


I'm Rubber, You're Glue

by fezpo



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Coming Out, F/F, Light BDSM, Under-negotiated Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 08:00:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2101791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezpo/pseuds/fezpo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You complete slag!” Collette says, shocked but delighted. “Who’ve you gotten off with now?”</p><p>“Louis Tomlinson.”</p><p>“No,” Collette gasps. “You did not shag Louis fucking Tomlinson.”</p><p>“Pretty sure I did,” Nick says, starting to blush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Rubber, You're Glue

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed and not Britpicked. Sorry for any mistakes. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Nick’s been at the party for a little over half an hour. She’s here with Fiona, her plus one for the event, but had soon lost her in the crowd around the bar. Nick mingled, drifting from group to group, saying hello to people she knew and occasionally posing for pics. This was the after party for the launch of David Beckham’s swimwear line for H&M.

The earlier runway for the launch had proved very entertaining. Fiona had enjoyed the runway immensely, repeatedly turning to Nick and thanking her profusely for inviting her. Although not as fanatic in her enjoyment, Nick had liked the new line and appreciated the aesthetic appeal of the models. Never let it be said that Nick didn’t enjoy fit men in tiny speedos, especially if one of those fit men was David Beckham. She might be gay but she wasn’t blind.

Scanning the crowd, she spots Ellie in the crowd to her left. As she hasn’t said hi yet, she starts making her way over. Halfway there she notices that Niall and Liam are on Ellie’s other side. She pauses on her way over but she’s already made eye contact with Ellie so she keeps on walking towards her.

“Bollocks,” she mutters under her breath. She had known the girls of One Direction would likely show up at the after party, having seen them at the runway show earlier, and that she would doubtless run into them but she had wanted to put off running into them for as long as possible. At least until she had imbibed more than two glasses of champagne.

“Hiya, you alright?” she greets, in a cheerful tone and plastering on a smile. Niall and Liam were perfectly charming and friendly girls, no need to act disparaging towards them on behalf of a certain bandmate of theirs.

“Grimmy! Darling, I love that jacket!” Ellie gushes to Nick, giving her a big hug.

“Thanks, babe,” she preens, tugging on the ends of the jacket. She had been waiting for a chance to show off the shiny red, embroidered jacket she had been gifted and had spent ages deciding on the right outfit to wear with it. “It was a gift so it’s a sample size, tad tight in the shoulders, but who can say no to a designer jacket.”

“But look at you. You look gorgeous, as always; I love those shoes,” Nick compliments Ellie in return. Simply dressed in a white top and jeans, she manages to make the look pop with a dark red lip and a pair of fabulous heels. Turning to Niall and Liam she says, “And how are 2/5ths of the world’s biggest Girl Band? You both look lovely, as well.”

“Eh, can’t complain,” answers Niall in her Irish drawl, shrugging her shoulders in a complacent manner. She looks comfortable yet fashionable in a white summer dress under a black and grey varsity jacket. Next to her, Liam is similarly dressed in a numbered jersey and a denim skirt.

“Really good, thanks. Did you enjoy the fashion show?” asks Liam, eyes crinkling with enthusiasm. “I thought David did a really good job, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. That Beckham sure knows how to put on a good show. What was your favorite piece?” As both Liam and Niall jump in to say how much they had liked this or that piece, Nick hears footsteps approaching.

“Grimshaw,” comes a voice from behind her, “isn’t it past your bedtime?”

Nick turns around already knowing who it is, and comes face to face with Louis Tomlinson, snide smile and all.

“Ah, darling, very sweet of you to ask but grown ups get to choose their own bedtimes,” Nick says, inadvertently looking her up and down. Nick hates to admit it and feels red hot shame even thinking it, but Louis looks smashing. She’s dressed in a sleek black blazer over a pair of tight black jeans and a dark green lacy top; her short sandy brown hair styled in fashionable disarray. Nick wishes for more alcohol.

“Nice jacket,” Louis smirks, ignoring Nick’s implication about her age. “I see you’ve got my name embroidered on it. Strange, I thought Harry was your favorite.”

“Tsk, tsk, it’s Louis, as in Louis Vuitton. Someone’s a bit obsessed with themselves,” Nick chastises, placing special emphasis on _Vuitton_. Niall starts laughing uproariously,  clutching her stomach as if that’s the funniest  thing she’s ever heard. “And you’re wrong, my favorite’s always been Zayn, regular Helen of Troy, she is. Who wouldn’t go to war for those cheekbones?”

“Damn, and I thought for sure I was your favorite Grimmy,” Niall mock pouts.

“You’re my favorite Irish member, how’s that?” Nick tells her with a wink.

“Fair enough,” Nialls say, cracking up again.

Louis looks even more displeased, but before she can say anything Fiona comes up besides Nick, interrupting their conversation.

“Hiya,” Fiona says to a chorus of hellos. “Mind if I steal Nick, there is a massive hanging picture of David Beckham in a tinsy, tiny white speedo that needs to be ogled.” Nick excuses herself, glad for the welcome interruption and follows Fiona outside.

A good half hour to an hour later, Nick has to use the loo. She’s had a few more glasses of champagne and her bladder is feeling the pressure. Heading towards the main toilets, she sees a long line for the women’s restroom. Not able to wait, she goes to a toilet down the hall which she’s used before . It’s a little bit out of the way and not everyone knows about it so there’s usually not a line. Tonight, there’s only one other person waiting, fortunately for her and her bladder.

She goes to stand behind the woman but she doesn’t have to wait long before her turn. Relieved and no longer feeling as if her bladder is going to explode, she washes her hands and fixes the smudges her eye liner has left under her eyes. Satisfied that she no longer looks like a racoon she opens the door to leave. Except standing in the doorway, blocking her exit is Louis Tomlinson. Nick halts with her hand still on the doorknob, staring wordlessly at her. Without saying a word, Louis pushes Nick back into the room, closing the door behind her.

“I don’t like you and I think you’re a pretentious wanker,” Louis slurs, stumbling drunkenly over her words.

“I don’t like you, either, and I think you’re a spoiled brat,” Nick replies without missing a beat. Who the hell does Louis think she is, bombarding her in the toilet like this and drunkenly confessing her dislike for Nick. As if Nick wasn’t already perfectly aware of Louis’ complete disdain for her. Louis stares at her, sullen and angry. Nick stares right back, unwillingly to let Louis unsettle her.

Suddenly, Louis lunges towards her, grabbing her shoulders and roughly pressing her mouth to Nick’s. Nick stumbles from the force of Louis’ body colliding with hers, back hitting the edge of the sink, hard. Disoriented from the unexpected attack and reflexes dulled by alcohol, Nick’s mouth remains pliant and yielding to Louis’ oral assault.

Slowly coming back to herself, Nick realizes that Louis fucking Tomlinson is attempting to snog her face off. She grabs onto Louis’ upper arms and firmly pushes Louis away, keeping her at arms length.

Nick stares at Louis; she’s breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly; her eyes are dark, almost all pupil, and her mouth is stained red, bruised and puffy from kissing Nick so hard. Then, Nick pulls her in, hands moving to Louis’ hips and squeezing tightly and kissing her back.

Nick has no idea what’s happening or why. Louis just said she hated her and then started kissing her, right after Nick called her a spoiled brat. Kissing her back is probably the worst idea she’s ever had but Nick never claimed to be great at making good decisions.

Nick takes control of the kiss, sliding her mouth hotly over Louis’ and thrusting her tongue against hers, wet and slick. She feels Louis’ groan, hands clutching Nick’s shoulders whenever Nick pulls back to bite at Louis’ plump bottom lip.

Completely consumed with kissing Louis, Nick forgets that they are in fact snogging in a toilet at a very busy party until they hear voices out in the hall. Louis jumps away from Nick immediately, a started expression on her face. They stand staring at each other for a moment in silence. Then, seeming to come out of her daze, Louis wipes her mouth with shaking hands and runs out, eyes wild looking.

Nick continues to stand there for a couple more minutes, confused and turned on. She turns around, contemplating her reflection in the mirror. Wisps of her long brown hair have  fallen out of her ponytail from Louis’ tugging and her lips are still wet from Louis’ mouth.

She staggers back to the party, searching for Fiona. She finds her talking to Conor, exactly where she had been before Nick left to use the loo. Nick surreptitiously glances around for Louis but doesn’t spot her anywhere. Liam and Niall are nowhere to be found either and Nick figures Louis left with them.

“Fi, I’m tired. Want to share a cab home?” Nick asks, once Conor has left.

“Yes,” Fiona says, groaning with relief. “I’m dead tired. How you manage to come to work in the morning after staying out all night is a mystery. What’s the matter, Grim, something wrong?” Fiona grabs her arm, turning to look at her more closely.

“Huh?” Nick says, coming out of her thoughts. “Oh, nothing. Just tired, is all. Ready to go?”

Nick leads Fiona towards the front doors, briefly sweeping her eyes around the room one more time before jumping into a taxi headed home.

 

~*~

 

After getting in way later than she had planned, Nick kicks off her shoes and heads straight for the bedroom. Exhausted, she climbs into bed, still a little bit tipsy, barely taking the time to strip off her clothes and pull on a sleep shirt and shorts. Not even ten minutes have passed when she hears a knock on her door.

She shuffles to her front hallway, switching on a light as she goes. _Who the bloody hell is knocking at her door in the middle of the night_ she thinks to herself as she opens the door. To say Nick is surprised to see Louis Tomlinson standing on her front doorstep would be an understatement. This is the second time tonight Nick has open the door to see Louis standing before her.

Nick stares at her, noticing that Louis seems to be wearing the same outfit she had on earlier. Louis huffs, impatient with the lack of response and without waiting for an invitation, pushes her way inside Nick’s flat. Nick closes the door behind her and, stunned into silence, follows Louis into the living room, watching as she sits down on the sofa. Thoroughly unsettled by Louis’ unexpected visit but reluctant to show her surprise to the other woman, she seats herself opposite Louis, trying to remain calm and collected.

Louis fidgets with her hands, knee bouncing up and down in rapid succession, looking around the room and avoiding Nick’s gaze. Nick can tell she’s working herself up to say something so she sits and waits for Louis to speak first.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Louis blurts into the silence, words emerging awkward and stiff. “I’m not gay.”

The reason for Louis’ visit becomes apparent; Louis suspects Nick of intending to out her to the media.

“I never said you were gay and I wasn’t going to tell anyone,” Nick says, stung and more than a little hurt that Louis would think her capable of doing such a terrible thing. Although, if Louis isn’t gay or at least bi, what was she doing kissing Nick?

“Good,” Louis says. “No one would believe you anyway.”

“Got it. Keep my mouth shut,” Nick says, having had enough of Louis’ rudeness. “Are we done here?” She stands up, ready to show Louis the door.

“What the hell is your problem?” Louis yells, shooting to her feet as well. “Do you not get how serious this is, how damaging this could be to my career?” She’s practically standing on her tiptoes to yell in Nick’s face.

“My problem? You’re the one who came here assuming I’d immediately sell you out to the tabloids for a quick buck. I’d never do something so terrible to anyone, not even to you. So you can take your accusations and get the fuck out of my flat,” Nick shouts back, looming over Louis’ smaller form, hands clenched into tight fists.

In the silence that follows Nick’s angry outburst, she realizes that she’s standing very close to Louis, their faces inches from each other. She can feel Louis’ breath on her face, little puffs of air expelling from between Louis’ lips. Almost as if on cue Nick surges forward at the same time that Louis moves towards her, mouths coming together with a ruthless urgency.

Despite Nick’s anger and confusion, she kisses Louis back. Didn’t they just establish that Louis wasn’t gay? And hadn’t Louis made it perfectly clear that she didn’t trust Nick to keep secrets. Distracted by her thoughts, Nick doesn’t notice that Louis has started to take off her clothes, discarding her blazer and slipping her shoes off, reaching for the button on her jeans.

“Wait,” Nick huffs, out of breath, “We’re not doing this in my living room.” She takes Louis by the hand and leads her to the bedroom.

Walking through the door, Nick comes to a stop in the middle of her bedroom floor, Louis standing in front of her. Louis rolls her eyes, stepping forward and tilting her face up in order for Nick to lean down and kiss her.

The kiss turns impatient, Louis assailing Nick’s mouth with her own, their teeth clashing painfully. Attempting to reign in her enthusiasm, Nick takes her bottom lip between her teeth, giving it a quick warning bite then gently licking over it. Louis stills, momentarily taken aback by the pain, then groans, renewing her effort to disrobe Nick.

“Whoa, slow down, we’ve got time,” Nick says, grabbing Louis’ hand as she tries to shove it down her shorts. She sweeps her hands down Louis’ back, resting her hands on Louis bum, squeezing a handful in each palm, pulling her in so that their bodies lay flush against each other.

“Just shut up and take your pants off,” Louis demands, taking off her shirt and wriggling to get her jeans down. Finally naked, Nick pushes Louis onto the bed, crawling over her on her hands and knees. Leaning over her, propped up an elbow, Nick slowly kisses Louis’s neck, lightly rubbing circles with her thumb where Louis thigh meets her hip.

“Tell me what you like?” Nick asks, lifting her head from kissing Louis’s breast.

“How-,” her breath hitches, “However, just fucking get on with it,” she says shakily.

“How ‘bout if I down go on you?” Nick whispers into the hollow of Louis’ throat. Nick feels Louis tense beneath her.

“Ok,” Louis says, body unclenching with a visible effort, making Nick pause.

“Have you ever done this before?” Nick hesitates to ask but she has to know.

“Jesus Nick! I’m not a virgin!” Louis’ snaps, prompting Nick to run a soothing hand down Louis’ side,

“I meant, have you ever had sex with a woman before?” Nick tries again, unwilling to be goaded. Louis doesn’t answer out loud but Nick sees when she gives a tiny shake of her head.

“Ok, thats ok. Have you ever had anyone go down on you before?”

“For the last time, this isn’t my first time having sex! Yes, I’ve had guys go down on me before!” Louis says, becoming more and more frustrated.

“Alright, just checking,” Nick says, continuing to run her hand along Louis’ side. “... Did you like it?”

“God, yes! I liked it! I already said you could go down on me, are we doing this or not?” Louis says, giving Nick a hard look.Nick huffs, licking over Louis’ nipple with a rough swipe of her tongue, then scoots down the bed.

“Yeah alright.” Louis’ a big girl, she can make her own decisions.

Nick settles between Louis’ thighs, gently pushing her legs apart. Nick very slowly slides her thumb between her slick folds, dipping into her opening and spreading the wetness she finds there over her clit. Nick glances one more time up at Louis’ face before leaning her mouth down to lick her open; Louis moans at the touch of her tongue.

Nick loves to eat girls out. She loves the way they taste, the sounds they make, how their thighs tighten as they come. She knows all the tricks, too; knows how to find just the right rhythm to make a girl lose it and Louis’ no different. Nick tries a couple of different motions with her tongue, paying close attention to Louis’ reactions. When she hears Louis groan almost obscenely loud, she knows she’s found the right motion, repeating the quick side to side flick of her tongue. Sliding two fingers inside her, Nick gently fucks her open until Louis is thrashing on the bed. Nick gives herself an imaginary pat on the back for managing to reduce Louis to such a state.

Nick brings her hands around Louis’ ass, taking a firm hold of her hips, pressing her firmly against the bed in order to keep her hips from arching off the bed; Louis’ thrusts having managed to throw Nick off her rhythm. Attaching her mouth to Louis’ clit once again, Nick picks up right where she left off, tongue moving fast and hard. When Louis’ dislodges Nick’s mouth a second time, she brings her hand down with a firm slap to the delicate skin of Louis’ inner thigh, intending it as warning to stay still. Instead, Louis goes suddenly silent, back arching and fucking herself as deep as she can on Nick’s fingers, clenching impossibly tight around them. Nick, too shocked to do anything else, keeps licking her clit until she hears Louis whimper high in her throat, signaling her to stop.

Lifting her mouth from between Louis’ thighs, Nick nuzzles her face in the soft skin of Louis’ stomach, breaths coming out in pants. She reaches down to start rubbing her own clit, fingers moving hard and fast. It only takes Nick thinking about Louis’ shocked gasp when she came to make Nick reach her own orgasm, toes curling from coming.

Shaky from coming so hard, Nick gives a quick nip to Louis’ belly before crawling back up her body and collapsing beside her, where Louis has thrown an arm over her eyes, face buried in the crook of her elbow.

“Hmm, seems you liked that,” Nick says, feeling very pleased with herself.

“Yes. You made me come. Cheers,” Louis replies, eyes still covered by her arm.

“Well, don’t go on about it,” Nick says, in mock annoyance. Louis huffs and gives Nick a pinch in retaliation. Nick squeals and moves away but not that far.  

They lay like that, not really touching except for their arms. It’s oddly comfortable, but Nick can’t quite settle into it, thoughts and images of the night flashing through her mind; Louis barging in on her in the loo and then showing up at her flat; Louis’ angry accusations and firm denial that she is not gay which was immediately contradicted by them having sex. Rolling to face Louis, she finds her fast asleep, curled onto her side, facing away from Nick, sheets pulled up to her waist. Nick studies Louis’ back; the gentle slope of her shoulders and the rising curve of her hips. Reaching over to the bedside table, Nick raises her hand to the lamp and turns off the light.

 

~*~

 

Nick’s alarm goes off early the next morning, startling her awake. She looks over to see Louis still sleeping; she’s snuggled up to Nick in the night resting her head on her shoulder. Nick gently rouses her, getting a smack for her trouble.

“Louis, darling, as much as I enjoy having you drool on me I have to get up for work.” Louis grumbles but sits up.

“Christ it’s early, I forgot you do that morning show or whatever.”

“BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show host, love, I know you know this, you are forever taking the piss.”

Louis makes no comment, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and running her fingers through her short hair.

“Right, well, I’ve got to leave in like… now and I really should have a shower but I don’t have time.”

“I have to get up anyway, it’s my mum’s hen do this weekend and I was going to head up there today.” They get up, Nick dressing and attempting to contain her bed hair, trying to remember if she’s forgot anything. Louis, dressed and ready, waits for her at the door; she’s staring at the ground, deep in thought and only looks up when Nick is directly in front of her.

“So, you’re not going to tell anyone, right?” Louis demands, once again.

 _Oh, for fuck’s sake_. Nick takes a deep breath. “I had such a lovely time with you last night, Nick!,” she says, in a fairly good impression of Louis. “I had a wonderful time with you, too, Louis. Let’s get together again real soon!”

“You are such an insufferable wanker,” Louis says, resorting to childish insults.

“Takes one to know one, sweetheart,” Nick says, equally immature.

“I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone and especially not Harry,” Louis says, crossing her arms across her chest and puffing her chest out importantly.

“Don’t want Harry finding out you fancy me,” Nick jokes.

“Ha, you wish! You’re too old for me.”

“Oh, love, that stung,” Nick says, clutching her hand to her heart, feigning hurt feelings. Louis rolls her eyes.

“I’m not leaving till you promise and I know you’ve got to be running late by now.” Nick checks her watch. Shit, she is running late.

“Alright. I promise not to tell anyone, but especially not Harry, that I made you come. Happy?” Louis huffs in irritation, stomping out the door. Nick hears her mutter ‘twat’ under her breath as she goes.

Out on the sidewalk, Louis stops to look back at Nick with this mischievous smile on her face that can only mean trouble.

“Oh and Nick, if you do decide to tell, I’ve got some not too flattering pics of you sleeping saved on my phone. I’m not the only one who drools.” And with that she’s off.

Nick watches her walk away, wondering when she found the time to take pictures of her sleeping, the cheeky bugger.

 

~*~

 

As expected, the next morning the team takes the piss for Nick showing up hungover and tired or, as Matt so kindly put it, looking ‘a hot mess’; Fiona not looking any better. How she manages to make it through the show, she has no idea but she considers it a personal best that she only mentions Louis’ name once and that in relation to her jacket. She jokes that Niall was deeply offended that Nick had Louis’ name embroidered on her jacket when Niall thought she was her favorite.Thankfully, the team moves on after that, distracted by Liam’s uncanny likeness to David Beckham.

The rest of the show passes in a blur, as does Friday’s, with no time for Nick to dwell on the night she spent with Louis. After Friday’s show, Nick decides to stay in for the night, lounging around the house, watching crap telly and eating crap junk food.

Alone in the flat and with nothing on the telly to occupy her mind, her thoughts automatically drift to the party Wednesday night and everything that happened with Louis.

She remembers how Louis had found her in that hallway toilet. Had Louis been watching her, waiting to catch Nick by herself? Could Louis have been drunk enough to mistake Nick for someone else; her speech had been slurred. But no, that doesn’t make any sense, either; Louis had called Nick by name, Nick was sure of it. Louis might have been drunk but she was lucid enough to know that it was Nick she had accosted in a restaurant bathroom.

Still that didn’t explain why Louis had kissed her in the first place or having kissed Nick, why she had decided to follow her home. Just thinking about the way Louis had barged into her flat and flung unwarranted accusations at her is enough to make Nick angry all over again. Yet, when Louis had kissed her again, Nick had kissed her back.

Nick hadn’t been able to help it. Louis had been so eager, kisses hot and a little dirty; Nick had given in without a second thought. The sex was just as spectacular; Louis loud and demanding, letting out a desperate cry when she had come. Nick shivers, thighs clenching in arousal at the thought.

None of it made any sense though. Louis had flat out said she wasn’t gay but then she had gone ahead and slept with Nick anyway. Louis had to be at least a little bit interested in girls to sleep with Nick; maybe she was bisexual? In any case, Louis had been adamant that no one know and it seemed from Louis’ particular insistence that Harry not be told, that no one in the band knew Louis might be interested in women.

Nick supposes Louis could be experimenting, trying to figure out if she’s interested in the opposite sex or not. Even with that assumption, Nick is at a loss as to why Louis would choose her to experiment with her sexuality. She thought they hated each other. Louis had even said, before kissing Nick in the loo, that she didn’t like Nick and thought she was a pretentious wanker. Why had Louis kissed her if she thought she was so horrible.

It’s true Nick had called her a spoiled brat in retaliation but for the most part Nick didn’t have a problem with Louis. She had even tried, on a couple of occasions, at Harry’s prodding, to be friendly with Louis. Obviously none of these attempts had worked, Louis refusing her friendly overtures and responding with disdain.

In spite of all of her doubts, Nick couldn’t bring herself to feel a sense of remorse for having slept with Louis. The sex more than made up for any regrets she might have and if she’s being honest with herself she wouldn’t mind sleeping with Louis again.

Saturday night, sick of her self imposed isolation, Nick calls Collette to come over for a late supper. Collette, the good friend she is, brings a bottle of wine with her and they call for a take away. Belly full and slightly tipsy, Nick spills her guts to Collete, telling her everything that happened Wednesday night. Nick had promised Louis that she wouldn’t tell anyone but Collette is hardly going to leak the story to the media.

“So you know how I went to Beckham’s swimwear launch?” Nick begins, seated sideways on the sofa, knees tucked beneath her, facing Collette, who’s sitting next to her..

“Oh yes, I saw your instagram pictures. You looked quite fit, darling. Was it fun?” Collette asks, always eager to hear any crazy party stories.

“Very fun, actually, especially the after party,” Nick says, swirling the wine in her glass, glancing up at Collette from beneath her eyelashes.

“You complete slag!” Collette says, shocked but delighted. “Who’ve you gotten off with now?”

“You’ll never guess and I really shouldn’t tell you, I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody!” She says, delighted to tell Collette her secret. She’s vain enough to be proud that she pulled someone off of internationally famous girl band 1D nevermind that that person was Louis Tomlinson.

“Was it Ellie? She was there that night, wasn’t she?” Collette asks, bouncing on the sofa in her excitement. At Nick’s shake of her head Collette guesses again. “Was it Cheryl Cole? You shagged Cheryl Cole, didn’t you? I always knew you fancied her.”

“What, no! I didn’t shag Cheryl Cole. Cheryl wasn’t even there that night. Besides, I don’t fancy her. She’s just fit, is all, half of bloody Britain fancies her,” Nick says. “You’re never gonna guess.”

“Well, come on then, tell us!”

Nick puts her face in her hands and mumbles Louis’ name indistinctly.

“Love, you know I can’t hear you with your hands covering your mouth,” Collette says, pulling Nick’s hands away from her face.

“Louis Tomlinson.”

“No,” she gasps. “You did not shag Louis fucking Tomlinson.”

“Pretty sure I did,” Nick says, starting to blush

“Holy shit. Ok, give me a second to process this. Wow.” She sits in stunned silence. “How did this happen, then?”

“To be honest, I have no idea. It started at the after party for the swimwear launch. Niall, Liam and Louis had all gone to the runway and showed up at the after party. I had gone to talk to them because they were standing with Ellie. One minute Louis is giving me shit for my Louis Vuitton jacket, you know, cause it had Louis embroidered on it, and the next second she’s following me to the bathroom and snogging my face off.”

“What? That’s crazy! Did anyone see you guys?”

“No, I mean I had gone to the bathroom down the hall, and there wasn’t anyone around, so I don’t think so.”

“So what, you guys shagged in the bathroom?” Collette asks, gesturing wildly with her hands, wine almost spilling from the glass in her hand.

“No, of course not. So we heard voices outside and Louis jumped away from me like I was on fire and left. Just walked out of the bathroom without saying anything. But then later that night, after I’ve already gotten into bed, she shows up here, knocking at the door to let her in. I open the door and first thing she says is ‘Don’t tell anybody’”

“About the snogging in the bathroom,” Collettes asks in clarification, wanting to make sure she’s following the story.

“Yeah. We start yelling at each other then before you know it we’re kissing again and heading to my bedroom to shag.”

“Only you, Grimmy,” Collette says, shaking her head. “What does Harry say?”

“I can’t tell Harry! Louis made me promise, specifically, not to tell her. It seems like Harry doesn’t know Louis likes women and if Harry doesn’t know I doubt the rest of the band does either.”

“Ahh, darling, that’s shit,” Collette says, patting Nick on the knee.

“Yeah,” Nick sighs, taking a consoling sip of wine. “I think she might be in the closet. She could just not want Harry to know that she shagged one of her friends but she sounded genuinely scared that I would out her to the media. She told me herself that I was the first women she had ever slept with which makes me think she’s confused or experimenting or something but she’s afraid of anyone finding out.”

“Really, you were her first lesbian experience? Understandable that she was so freaked out then,” Collette says, a sympathetic expression on her face.

“I guess,” Nick sighs, staring into her wine glass. “Why me, though? We’re not even friends and she didn’t even trust me enough to not sell her out to the tabloids.”

“True, you guys fight like cats and dogs,” Collette says. “Hmm, maybe it’s like her version of pulling your pigtails. Maybe,” Collette pauses for dramatic effect, “she’s secretly in love with you.”

“Collette, be serious. I had sex with ⅕ of the most famous girl band in the world except no one can know and she may or may not be using me to figure out if she likes women. I don’t know what to do,” Nick whines.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” Collette says, causing Nick to huff into her wine glass in reply.

“Still, she’s quite fit isn’t she?” Collette says after a few minutes of sitting in silence. “I don’t think I would kick her out of bed for eating crisps.”

“You have no idea, Collette. The sex was amazing,” Nick says wistfully. “I mean-”

“Eh, no need for details,” Collette says, cutting Nick off. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Nothing, probably.”

“Would you want to see her again if she asked?” Collette asks.

“Well, she was a great shag,” Nick says, sending Collette a dirty smirk.

“Oii! Keep your pants on!” Collette laughs, jokingly pushing Nick away.

“It’s a mute point, though, because Louis’ actions made it pretty clear it was a one time thing.” Collette pats her knee consolingly. “I’ve just realized I’ll be seeing her Saturday in Glasgow when 1D performs at Big Weekend. Do you think it’ll be awkward?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Collette says without hesitation.

“Thanks, you’re helpful,” Nick says, shooting her a dirty look.

“Ah, cheer up babe. Harry will be there, just stick to her. You probably won’t even have to talk to Louis if you don’t want to.”

They talk a bit more, going through the whole bottle of wine and then another. It’s nice and relaxing, just what Nick needed after the whirlwind that is Louis Tomlinson. Tomorrow she is flying up to Glasgow for the week and she still has to pack for her flight, so she calls it a night around midnight. At the door, Collette turns to Nick to say goodbye.

“Look, about Louis,” Collette says. “You deserve better than a one night stand. You deserve breakfast in bed and cuddling while watching the telly, ok? And I know there’s someone out there for you, so just don’t worry too much about this business.”

“Thanks, babe,” Nick says, hugging her tight. Collette always seems to know what to say to make her feel better. “I won’t.”

“Have fun this week. Call me if you need anything,” Collette calls over her shoulder, leaving the flat.

Nick goes to her room to pack, wishing it was that easy to put Louis bloody Tomlinson out of her mind.

 

~*~

 

The whole team flies up to Glasgow late Sunday morning in preparation for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend. As promotion for the already much anticipated weekend festival, they are hosting the breakfast show from the city of Glasgow.Thankfully, Nick is in considerably higher spirits after a good night’s sleep. At the airport, while the team checks in for their flight, Nick decides to have a laugh by pretending her and Matt are going away for a romantic weekend together but Finchy refuses to play along, the spoil sport.

Everyday that week they have a different feature planned on the radio promoting Big Weekend and she hardly has any time to sleep, much less think about Louis. The week does not start off well despite her best efforts. Monday morning her scheduled interview with Angelina Jolie is a bit of a flop; Angelina looks and sounds bored much to Nick’s chagrin. Fortunately, the week picks up on Tuesday when she gets a ballet lesson at a local dance studio in Glasgow. She makes a complete fool of herself in tights and a tutu but she has a great time and she’s sure it’ll make a fun feature in the tabloids when the pictures come out.

As the weekend approaches Nick starts to feel more and more anxious about the upcoming concert and One Direction’s performance on Saturday. More than seeing Louis, Nick is worried about seeing Harry for the first time in person since the night she spent with Louis. Louis had made it pretty clear that she didn’t want Nick telling anyone about them shagging but she had been especially vehement that Nick not tell Harry. Nick had already half broken her promise by telling Collette but since Nick had no doubts that Collette would keep their secret she didn’t feel any guilt about breaking her promise. Not telling Harry was going to be a harder promise to keep. Nick had managed to omit any and all mention of Louis from their brief text messages but it was going to be more difficult to lie to Harry’s face.

Saturday morning dawns gray and rainy which does nothing to assuage Nick’s anxiety. Having arranged to meet Harry before 1D’s performance Saturday afternoon, Nick goes in search of her, finding Harry outside of the main stage’s tent, trademark bandana barely managing to contain her curls. The band had arrived late last night, flying into Glasgow directly after finishing their concert in Croke and Harry looks as if she hasn’t gotten enough sleep.

Harry smiles when she sees her, wrapping her long limbs around Nick in a giant bear hug, Nick hugging her back just as fiercely.

“So, hows things? How’s L.A. been treating you, now that you’ve practically moved there,” Nick asks, ruffling Harry’s curls behind her ridiculous head scarf. Nick will never not be amused by this current fashion trend of hers.

“Pretty good. I miss home and all my friends here but California is nice. A lot of it is work stuff, you know that,” Harry says, smiling at Nick’s attempts to mess up her hair.

“Oh, how could I forget, Miss Singer Songwriter Extraordinaire,” Nick teases, actually really proud of Harry and her many accomplishments.

Continuing to catch up with Harry, Nick sees Louis standing off to the side with Zayn. She’s trying to surreptitiously get Louis’ attention, glancing repeatedly in her direction, hoping to make eye contact with her but failing. Either Louis hasn’t noticed her or she’s purposely avoiding Nick’s glances. Nick’s not sure what she wanted to happen when they saw each other this weekend but she doesn’t think a simple acknowledgement of her presence is too much to ask from someone she’s slept with. They’ve seen each other naked, for crying out loud.

“Why do you keep looking at Louis?” Harry asks, gaze flicking from Nick to Louis and back again. “Niall told me she and the girls saw you at that David Beckham thing. Did something happen between you two?” Harry, discreet, soft spoken girl that she is, says this in the loudest whisper imaginable. Louis, at the sound of her name, sharply turns her head in their direction, meeting Nick’s eyes with a questioning lift of her eyebrows.

“Harry! Did you have to say that so bloody loud?” Nick asks, quickly looking away from Louis’ inquisitive stare.

“What? You didn’t, did you? I thought you were done with taking the piss out of each other.”

“No we haven’t fought, ok? Can we please stop talking about this?” Nick says, dropping her head down, trying to hide behind Harry.

“Fine, as long as nothing’s wrong. But you’re acting like a total weirdo,” Harry says.

“Cheers, Harry,” Nick says in a flat voice.

“No worries, mate. I’ve got to go get ready for the show now. See you after? We have another show in Croke tonight but I can hang out for a bit before we have to leave.”

“Yeah, yeah, see you after. Knock ‘em dead popstar,” Nick says, giving Harry a soft punch on the shoulder. Nick has just turned to go find a good place to watch from the side of the stage when a hand lands on her elbow.

“Nick, wait up a sec,” Louis says, pulling Nick off to the side, hidden from the others.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Nick asks, shaking Louis’ hold from her elbow.

“I will in a minute,” Louis says, eyes fidgeting around the backstage area. “I just wanted to have a word with you first.”

“Didn’t seem like you were wanting to talk to me a minute ago,” Nick says, unable to stop resentment from creeping into her words.

“Look, this is a really awkward situation for me. I don’t know what you want me to say,” Louis huffs.

“Oh, it’s awkward for you, is it? It’s not exactly a picnic for me either. Harry’s one of my best mates, do you think it’s easy keeping secrets from her?” Nick asks, flinging her arms out in agitation.

“Yeah, I could see that,” Louis replies, scrutinizing Nick’s face through squinted eyes. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Just catching up,” Nick says, shrugging her shoulders, brushing off Louis’ question.

“I heard my name,” Louis persists with a questioning tilt of her head.

“Yes, well, Harry tends to talk about her band a fair bit and last time I checked you were in said band,” Nick contends, reluctant to tell Louis that Harry had in fact noticed the tension between them.

“Fine, whatever, as long as you didn’t mention anything about us, that’s fine,” Louis asserts.

“Your secret’s safe, alright?” Nick says, mullish expression upon her face. “Isn’t it time for you to go do whatever it is popstars do, I don’t sing songs for instance. Off you go.” Nick waves Louis away with a shooing motion of her hands.

Louis looks like she might want to say something else but seems to change her mind and walks away. Nick lets out a little sigh of relief, glad to have gotten that over with.

Although Nick feels relieved to have not revealed anything to Harry and to have survived seeing Louis again, she can’t help feeling a bit dejected as well. She hadn’t expected to find Louis pining for her or throwing her looks of yearning but it had stung to be ignored. She felt so stupid thinking about how she had secretly hoped Louis would want to see her again when it was obvious Louis had no such desire. Nick sighed again, a wistful twist to her neck, and went to watch the show.

 

~*~

 

Nick’s sitting on the sofa watching telly late Thursday night when she sees she has a text. The whole team had flown home late Sunday night, tired and wrung out from the weekend long concert festival. This week had passed slowly compared to the previous week that had been filled with events and promotions for Big Weekend. Now, sat in front of the telly in her pajamas, half paying attention to GBBO, she checks her phone to see a message from an unknown number.

_are you busy tomorrow_

Nick guesses who this might be but she’s not sure.

_Who’s this?_

_louis_

She’s guessed right then.

 _Louis who?_ Nick texts, feigning ignorance.

_louis bloody walsh who’d you think it is_

Yep, that’s Louis alright.

_Someone who doesn’t know what time it is. Some of us have to work tomorrow._

Louis doesn’t reply back right away and Nick assumes she’s annoyed Louis with her snappish response when she sees her phone light up in her hand.

_come to manchester tomorrow_

_What?_ Seriously, what? Nick stares at her phone, rereading Louis’ baffling text message.

_i’ll have my bodyguard pick you up at the train station_

_Are you serious?_ Was Louis seriously inviting her to Manchester? What was Louis thinking? Nick could only think of one reason why Louis would be inviting her to Manchester but she felt ridiculous even considering it.

_make sure to text me what time your train arrives_

_Louis! You can’t seriously expect me to meet you in Manchester._

_why are you busy_

Nick could not believe this was happening to her.

_I might be very busy._

_busy catching a train to manchester_

Nick slaps her hand to her forehead, Louis’ cockiness infuriates her but it wasn’t unfounded.

_I hate you._

_see you tomorrow_

Nick finds a ticket that leaves Friday night, arriving in Manchester around the time the 1D concert will be ending and texts Louis the details. The whole time she’s booking her ticket, she’s shaking her head in incredulity at her actions. Nick had been convinced that sleeping with Louis had been a random one off. Louis attitude towards her at Big Weekend had indicated to Nick that Louis considered their hook up a one time thing as well. Yet, here she is booking a ticket to Manchester to see Louis and presumably have sex again. Nick had been disappointed that Louis had ignored her during Big Weekend only approaching her to interrogate her about her conversation with Harry. Was she willing to forgive Louis’ for brushing her off just for the chance to see her naked again.

Apparently the answer is yes, she thinks to herself as she boards a train to Manchester. Arriving on time, right away she spots Louis’ bodyguard waiting for her outside. So far, no one’s noticed her but she’d really rather not chance it. She quickly walks to meet him, clutching her small overnight bag in her hand and trying not to make eye contact with anyone lest someone recognize her.

Luckily she makes it to the hotel that Louis and the rest of the girls are staying at without meeting anyone she knows. She follows Louis’ bodyguard as he leads her through the back entrance to the hotel and up the service elevator to Louis’ floor.

“The girls are on their way from the venue. Louis should be here shortly,” Louis’ bodyguard tells Nick as he opens the door with a quick swipe of a key card ushering her inside.

“Great, thanks,” Nick says, ducking into the room beneath his outstretched arm, giving him an awkward nod of the head as she passes through the door.

Once inside, Nick sets her overnight bag on the floor, glancing around at the room’s furnishings. She takes off her jacket and tosses it on the chair by the door. With nothing else to do but wait, she decides to turn on the telly, pushing her shoes off with her toes and settling onto the bed.

Louis had told her she probably wouldn’t be in when Nick arrived from London but that she should go ahead and wait for her in her hotel room. Louis had failed to mention how long Nick would have to wait for her to come back from the concert venue and the wait was making Nick feel on edge. The longer Nick had to wait, the more time she had to reconsider the wisdom of boarding a train in order to meet Louis for a secret liaison.

Finally, after about half an hour of restlessly flipping through channels, the door rattles and Louis walks into the room, hair sticking to her forehead with sweat and shirt damp from perspiration.

“Hey,” Louis greets her, simultaneously kicking off her shoes and taking off her sweat damp shirt. “I’m just going to pop into the shower real quick. I left the venue as soon as the concert was over and I’m completely gross,” Louis says, heading into the bathroom, and Nick hears the shower turning on. Louis’ face had looked flush, bright with color; Nick didn’t think she looked gross at all. Ten minutes later Louis walks out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her torso.

“How was your trip?” Louis asks, looking up at Nick from beneath the towel she’s using to dry her hair. Nick watches her scrunch her hair with the towel, water beads sliding down her neck and disappearing underneath her towel, her skin damp and shiny with moisture. Nick swallows, mouth gone dry.

“Good. The same as always. I’ve made the journey loads of times, you know, to visit my parents who still live here, so it was no big deal,” Nick rambles, voice trailing off as Louis tosses both towels to the floor, standing naked before Nick’s greedy stare.

The atmosphere feels different this time, less rushed, in comparison to last time’s heat of the moment. Louis climbs onto the bed, straggling Nick’s thighs; she grabs Nick’s shirt and tugs it off, briefly tangling Nick’s arms in the sleeves. Freeing Nick from her shirt, Louis’ hands move up Nick’s back, unhooking her bra and sliding the straps down and off Nick’s arms, leaving her naked from the waist up. Reaching up to take Louis’ face between her hands, Nick lifts her head up to meet Louis’, mouths meeting in a hot, hungry kiss.

Louis runs her hands down Nick’s stomach, stopping to unbutton Nick’s jeans. Louis breaks the kiss, scooting down Nick’s legs in order to pull Nick’s jeans the rest of the way off. Having removed all of Nick’s clothes, Louis sits back on her heels and slowly rakes her eyes over Nick’s naked body. After looking her fill, she gently lowers herself down, covering Nick’s body with her own. Groaning at the feel of Louis’ leg slipping between her thighs, Nick grips Louis’ waist, shoving upwards with quick, jerky thrusts.

Coming back to herself, Nick feels Louis panting into her throat, letting out an occasional high pitched moan, hands squeezed tightly around Nick’s upper arms. She eases her hold of Louis hips, releasing her clenched fingers from where they were gripping hard to Louis’ waist. Slowing the grind of their hips to an unhurried glide, Nick turns her face to continue kissing Louis.

Naked and worked up from the dirty, wet slide of Louis’ mouth, Nick extracts herself from beneath Louis. She moves, instead, to kneel between Louis’ spread thighs. As Louis looks on from her splayed position, Nick eagerly takes in Louis’ flushed body, her disheveled hair, still wet from her shower, and the rapid rise and fall of Louis’ breasts. Smoothing her hands up Louis’ legs, Nick abruptly pinches her thigh, following an unnamed impulse. Louis gasps, whole body shuddering.

“You liked that,” Nick says, surprised, eyes wide.

“Stop talking,” Louis says into the pillow, turning her face to the side.

Nick pinches her again, harder this time, causing Louis to moan, loud and turned on. Watching Louis’ face closely, Nick carefully, but not gently, drags her nails down the insides of Louis’ thighs. She takes two fingers and rubs between Louis’ lips, feeling how wet Louis’ is. Nudging  inside Louis’ heat, Nick fucks her with her fingers while flicking her thumb fast against Louis’ clit. She can sense that Louis is close, her breathing quick and shallow, her body tense and vibrating with need. Nick watches as Louis comes apart under her hands, face distorted in pleasure.

“Shh,” Nick murmurs, calming her down, drifting her free hand soothingly over Louis’ stomach and sides. Gradually, Louis’ body relaxes, face going slack, sated.

“Fuck, that was hot,” Nick says. Louis looks completely wrecked, skin sweaty and hot to the touch, hair sticking every which way.

Nick stared down at Louis, gaze focused on where her hand was still pressed between Louis’ thighs. She starts to move her fingers again, softly at first, giving Louis time to adjust. Beneath her Louis squirms from overstimulation.

“Can you come again?” Nick  asks, leaning down and licking over Louis’ clit.

“Nick,” Louis cries out, whining high in her throat.

“Come on, come for me again,” Nick urges, putting her mouth to Louis’ clit, circling her tongue with firm strokes. Using both hands, Nick rubs over the scratch marks she made on Louis’ thighs earlier, chafing the already tender skin there. At that Louis comes again; head thrown back, sweat shining thickly on her skin, the muscles in her thighs twitching sporadically under Nick’s hands.

“Good girl,” Nick says, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and chin. Smiling at Louis in satisfaction, Nick collapses at Louis’ side, half on top of her.

“You’re ruining the moment,” Louis complains.

“Excuse me, but is that any way to talk to the person who just made you come. Twice,” Nick says, unable to keep the smugness out of her voice; Louis should be on her knees, worshipping her sexual prowess.

“Don’t go on about it,” Louis says but she’s started running her fingers through Nick’s hair so Nick considers it a win.

“Pfft, I’m a sex goddess,” Nick huffs. How is Louis not getting this?

“Oii, do I look like a pillow that you can just hump,” Louis says, tugging at Nick’s hair in warning. Nick moans, continuing to rhythmically rut against Louis’ leg.

“Way too mouthy for a pillow,” Nick retorts. “Shh, I’m trying to get off here.”

“Do you want some help with that?” Louis asks but she sounds uncertain. “Instead of humping me like a dog?”

“Could do,” Nick says,  eyeing Louis consideringly. “You offering?”

“Might be,” Louis says, voice full of false bravado. Louis pushes Nick onto her back, propping her elbow up to lean over her, movements hesitant. She moves her hand down between Nick’s thighs and tentatively skims her fingers over Nick’s lips.

Nick can feel how wet she is, her thighs slippery from being so turned on. Louis spreads her wetness around, getting Nick’s clit nice and slick. Nick knows it’s not going to take much to make her come, primed and ready from watching Louis come, twice. Louis brings Nick off with a steady rhythm, kissing Nick and swallowing her gasps. Nick comes with a full body shudder, gripping tightly to Louis forearm.

“Ta, love,” Nick says with a wry smile in Louis’ direction, eyes closed. She feels Louis lean over the side of the bed, coming back with the towel she had tossed to the floor earlier. Louis cleans them both up, then throws the towel to the floor again.

Cuddling afterwards, bodies languid and loose, Nick falls asleep with her head on Louis’ chest, Louis’ hands running soothingly over her back.

 

~*~

 

The next morning, Nick wakes up to the sound of dishes clanging and the smell of a full English breakfast; Louis has ordered them room service. Nick sits up in bed, making sure to cover herself with the bed sheet.

“Morning,” Louis says, passing Nick a cup of tea, coming to sit beside her on the bed. She’s put on a pair of baggy shorts and a tank top.

“Morning,” Nick says around a sip of tea. “So, what’s the plan for this morning? How are you going to sneak me out without the girls or the fans noticing?”

“Don’t worry. The girls are all probably still asleep. Harry, Niall and Liam all went down to the hotel bar after the show last night so they won’t be getting up before noon and Zayn never gets up before noon if she doesn’t have to,” Louis says, taking a drink from her own cup of tea.

“Ok, but what about the fans? Your bodyguard was able to get me inside without being noticed last night but that was because everyone was at the concert. There’s bound to be loads of fans waiting around the hotel today.”

“I’m going to create a diversion,” Louis says with a devilish grin. “I’ll go outside to greet the fans, pose for pictures, sign a couple of autographs, and while they’re distracted with me you can make your escape. I’ll bring Niall with me, too.”

“I’m surprised you’re not more worried about someone discovering that I’m here,” Nick says, fiddling with the bedspread. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to find out?”

“No one’s going to find out,” Louis states, smile leaving her face. “I’ve thought this through, ok?”

“No need to get your panties in a twist, love. Just making sure you’ve got a plan,” Nick says, staring at the cup of tea in Louis’ hand.

“Well, I do. So stop nagging me,” Louis says, getting up and slamming the door to the bathroom. Nick hears the shower turn on a minute later.

Nick sighs. She didn’t mean to make Louis angry but Louis was the one who kept insisting that no one find out about them. She just wanted to know how Louis intended to keep her hidden.

Nick stands up and roots around in her overnight bag. She puts on a fresh pair of clothes, deciding to forgo a shower. Who knows how long Louis sulk was going to last. By the time Louis was done, all the hot water would probably be gone, Louis using it up on purpose just to spite her.

She sits down on the bed to watch some telly and wait for Louis to come out. When Louis does come out, her skin is pink from the heat of the shower, steam billowing behind her.

Nick waits while Louis searches for something to wear, riffling through clothes strewn around the room and thrown over the furniture. Dressed in a black vest and black skinny jeans, Louis sits down on the settee to put on her shoes.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you. I just wanted to be filled in on what the plan was for today,” Nick says, attempting to placate her. Louis ignores her, concentrating on tying up her shoelaces. Nick sighs.

“Fine, stay angry. But we should really talk-” Nick starts to say.

“There’s nothing to talk about” Louis interrupts, loudly, without turning around to face Nick.

Nick has experienced first hand how stubborn and pig headed Louis can be so she really shouldn’t be surprised that Louis brushes off any attempt to have a _serious_ conversation. There’s nothing Nick can do, though, short of tying Louis to the bed, which, while an interesting thought in itself, seems impractical in their given circumstances, not having enough time or the equipment to do it properly; Nick left her handcuffs at home.

“Alright, I won’t say another word,” Nick says, ending the conversation. She checks the time on the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table. “My train is leaving soon, so you better go create that diversion if I’m going to leave on time.”

As Louis predicted, she is able to distract the fans waiting outside so that Nick can sneak away, unseen. Louis takes a felt tip sharpie and a disheveled but obsequious Niall with her to meet the fans waiting in front of the hotel, graciously posing for pics and signing autographs. Unbeknownst to the crowd of adoring fans, Nick leaves from the back entrance of the hotel, by herself, without a security guard, in order to be less conspicuous.

Before they part ways, Nick hauls Louis close by the belt loops of her trousers; Louis remains unmoved, holding onto her anger, body stiff and unyielding. Nick nedges Louis’ cheek with her nose, nuzzling beneath her jaw until Louis relaxes, visibly letting go of her anger with an annoyed huff. Defences down, Nick kisses her, sweetly at first then with vigor when Louis’ mouth responds hungrily to hers. Nick reaches down with her hands, grabbing a handful of Louis’ bum in each palm, squeezing hard.

“Oi, careful with the goods, Grimshaw,” Louis chides, swatting her on the arm.

“Hmm, sorry, love. Just wanted to get in a goodbye grope,” Nick apologizes. After a last peck on the cheek, Nick pulls away. “Thanks for inviting me. I had an absolutely marvelous time,” Nick says, cheekily.

“Yeah, yeah. You can stop manhandling me now. Have a good trip or whatever,” Louis says, turning towards the door. Opening the door, Louis looks back one last time to stick her tongue out at Nick causing Nick to let out a surprised laugh. Nick really wishes she wasn’t charmed by her childish antics.

 

~*~

 

Sunday night, barely a full 24 hours since she had last seen her, Louis texts Nick.  Her train ride home yesterday from Manchester had been uneventful and she had returned a little after 5 in the afternoon, in time to have an early dinner. She had not left her flat since then, ignoring texts from her friends to hang out. Assuming that Louis’ text was another of her friends messaging to ask if she wanted to do something, Nick is surprised by Louis’ name appearing on her screen, not expecting to hear from the other woman so soon.

She slides her thumb across the phone screen, unlocking it, and reads Louis message; she is asking about a missing shirt. When Nick had arrived home Saturday night she had left her overnight bag by the side table in the front hall. She hated unpacking and was feeling lazy after her trip, thinking the washing up could wait. Unpacking the bag now, she does indeed find an unfamiliar shirt that does not belong to her.

 _White vest with a stick figure skateboarding?_ Nick texts Louis, a description of the shirt just to make sure it’s the one she’s looking for.

 _Yep_ , she gets in reply, _that’s my favorite shirt grimshaw when can I come and get it_

They make plans for Louis to come by Friday, after the band’s first upcoming show at Wembley, that being convenient for both of them.

After that initial text, the ice seems to have been broken; they start texting each other more often, mostly just random pics of where they are or what they’re doing. Usually the inside of a hotel room or skateboarding around the backstage area from Louis’ end; a cafe or restaurant, drinking or eating with mates from Nick’s end. Louis sends one of herself in the dressing room at the venue in her stage outfit that Nick makes sure to email to herself to save onto her computer.

After call or delete airs Wednesday, Nicole Scherzinger her guest this week, Nick notices a text from Louis on her phone. She would never admit it to her face but she gets a little thrill every time she sees a message from Louis pop up on her phone, a frisson of pleasure curling up in her stomach. Louis’ text wants to know if Nicole is a diva in real life, _she played the part too well to be fake_. Nick admits that Nicole was a little too comfortable pitching her demands for a fitness competition to her assistant but she wasn’t mean or unreasonable. As she’s sending her reply, _Not at all! She’s a total sweetheart,_ she gets a text from Harry.

_Got a couple days off, lunch tomorrow?_

Nick texts her agreement, missing spending time with Harry. They decide to eat at Chiltern Firehouse, a favorite of both of theirs, after Nick is done with the show, Harry offering to pick Nick up from the studio.

“Hiya, you alright?” Nick says, getting into Harry’s Range Rover.

“Alright, yeah,” Harry  says, grinning and giving her a brief, somewhat awkward hug over the gear stick. Then, putting the car into gear, Harry pulls away from the curb, heading towards the restaurant.

“So, what’s new? How are the shows going? You’re last one was in Edinburgh, right?” Nick asks, chattering on haplessly, happy to be hanging out with Harry again.

“Yeah, it was,” Harry says, slowly, trying to remember.. “How did you know that?” Harry asks with an inquisitive look at Nick.

“Tumblr,” Nick says, thinking quick; Louis had sent her a pic of the crowd from that show. “You’re all over the place, love, no escaping you.”

“You love it,” Harry tells her. “But yeah, the crowds have been amazing. The fans have been great, coming to see us rain or shine. You’ll be at the concert this weekend, right?”

“Uh huh,” Nick says, nodding. “Carting a bunch of kids with me, too. Mossy is coming, as well. Should be a fun show.” Harry beams at her, dimples deep in her face.

“Yep, you know I never miss a chance to see Zayn’s beautiful face. Talented popstar that she is,” Nick says teasingly and right on cue, Harry goes ‘Heyyyy’, drawing out the word in her deep, husky voice.

“Oh, and you, of course. Can’t forget about Harry Styles and his trademark headscarf,” Nick says, gently mocking. Harry looks at her with her saddest pout.

“Oi, don’t give me those sad eyes, that headscarf is an insult to fashion,” Nick says, defending herself against Harry’s imploring look. Harry continues to pout at her, adding in a pair of droopy, forlorn eyes.

“Alright, fine. You wear it well. Happy?” Nick relents, giving into her. Harry’s smile returns in full force.

“You’re a soft touch, Grimshaw,” Harry says, happy.

Arriving at the restaurant, they are shown their seats and sit perusing the menu, chatting animatedly all the while.

“Tell me what’s new with you? Are you seeing anyone right now?” Harry asks.

“Not dating anyone, no,” Nick says, without looking up from her menu. Nick deflects the question on a word technicality; she wouldn’t call what her and Louis are doing ‘dating’.

“Still waiting for Cheryl Cole to say yes?” Harry says.

“Pfft, no. Wait, what? Why does everyone think I have a crush on Cheryl?”

“Maybe because you do?” Harry counters.

“Have you been talking to Collette?” Nick asks suspiciously, Collette having implied something similar. “I do not have a crush on Cheryl Cole. She’s just fit is all. And besides, I’m not one to run after straight girls. Learned that lesson the hard way.”

“Really?” Harry asks, lifting her face from her menu, curious. “Who? Anyone I know?”

“Nah, this was in Uni,” Nick says, an image of Louis coming to mind; Nick is almost one hundred percent sure Louis is not straight, whatever Louis might say to the contrary.

Before Harry can ask any embarrassing questions about Nick’s past romances, the waiter comes to take their order.

“Anyway, what about you, popstar? Any special man in your life?” Nick says once the waiter has left with their orders.

“Too busy. What with the tour, and the next album coming out soon, don’t have time, do I?” Harry says with a shrug.

“Oh rub it in a little more, why don’t you. I get it, you’re an in demand popstar on a world tour who’s too busy for love,” Nick says, mocking Harry’s celebrity. “Yet, how is it that Zayn’s got a fiancee and Liam’s got a boyfriend?”

“Beats me,” Harry says. “But I’m not the only one, Niall and Louis are both single. Actually not sure about Niall. She’s so private about her relationships but I don’t think she’s dating anyone or at least not seriously. Louis is for sure though. She just broke up with her boyfriend or well, it’s been a couple months.”

“Has it?” Nick says, shooting for disaffected but sounding too curious to her ears.

“Yeah,” Harry says, hesitating. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on with you two? Louis was squirmy when I tried asking her if something was going on?”

“The Tommo and I are peachy keen. No need to worry, Harry.”

“I always thought you two would get along great, if only you’d stop sniping at each other. You’re really a lot alike, you know.”

“No we’re not,” Nick disagrees, mostly for the sake of disagreeing.

“It’s true. You are a lot alike,” Harry says, talking over Nicks protests. “You’re both funny and loyal, you guys love taking the piss out of your friends but would fight anyone who talked bad about them. You’re sarcastic, stubborn, and complete gits when you don’t get your way.”

“Cheers, Harry,” Nick says, but she’s not that far off the mark.

“You know it’s true,” Harry says, taking a bite of her hamburger, the food having arrived.

“Whatever. Besides even if I wanted to be friends with Tomlinson she’s the one who dislikes me. I really don’t know what I did to her,” Nick says, biting into her sandwich.

“I know Louis can be prickly,” Harry says, mouth full of chewed ground beef. “But beneath her prickly surface she’s really a sweetheart.”

“I’m sure,” Nick says, only half paying attention. She cannot stop staring at the carnage that is the inside of Harry’s mouth.

“You’re both impossible,” Harry says, at last swallowing her mouthful.

“So you say,” Nick replies, thankful for the reprieve in chewing. “Anyway, how’s your family doing? You know Anne texted me the other day when we had Steel Panther in the studio. Did she tell you?”

“Yeah, she sent me the link. She listens to the show all the time and was really chuffed to get a shoutout,” Harry says.

“Ah, I love Anne. Do you think she’d adopt me?”

“I think your mom might mind,” Harry says, straight faced, used to Nick’s sudden bouts of silliness.

“Oooh and then we could be sisters, wouldn’t that be awesome. I’m going to text Anne right now,” Nick says, taking out her phone. “Do you think it’d be weird if I called her mum?”

“Pretty sure she’d think we were getting married if you called her mum,” Harry answers, sardonically. “Besides, her and Gemma are coming to the show on Sunday too; you can ask Mum to adopt you then.”

“Yay, excited to see them,” Nick says. “I can still call you sis, though, can’t I, sis?”

“I seem to remember a time someone thought you were my mum, not my sister?” Harry teases.

“Nope, no, you don’t because that never happened,” Nick says, quick to deny any such occurrence.

“It totally did,” Harry says, pausing for effect. “Mum.”

They look at each other and then simultaneously start laughing, loud enough to attract looks from the tables around them.

After lunch they head to Nick’s flat to hang out. Nick opens a bottle of wine and they spend a pleasant afternoon getting pissed and watching telly.

After watching three consecutive tivo’d episodes of Gogglebox, they take a small break. While Harry’s in the bathroom, Nick goes into the kitchen to grab more biscuits and another bottle of wine.

“Nick, whose shirt is this?” Harry asks, walking into the kitchen.

“What’s that love?” Nick asks, turning around from rooting around in the fridge, freezing when she sees Harry holding up Louis’ vest. Nick accidentally packed it with her stuff when she visited Louis in Manchester, only realizing her mistake when Louis messaged her asking for it.

“Whose shirt is this?” Harry asks again.

“It’s mine, why?” Nick replies, grabbing the biscuits and wine, walking out of the kitchen.

“Really?” Harry questions, doubtful, following her retreat into the living room. “Not really your style, is it?”

“I’ve got very eclectic tastes, I have,” Nick jokes, trying to lighten the mood. She sits down on the sofa and opens the package of biscuits, not looking in Harry’s direction.

“Do you know whose style it does look like?” Harry asks, ignoring her comment. “Louis’. I’m almost positive she’s got a shirt exactly like this. In fact, I’m sure of it since I saw her wearing it at the concert last Friday.”

“Imagine that, Louis and I having the same shirt. Stranger things have happened, I guess,” Nick says, chewing on a biscuit, attempting to appear unconcerned.

“Nick, I know this isn’t your shirt,” Harry says, towering over her. “What’s going on? Why do you have Louis’ shirt?”

“For the last time Harry, nothing’s going on. That’s my shirt. You’ve just never seen me wear it,” Nick says.

“I can’t believe this. Are you really going to sit there and lie to my face.” Harry says, looking angry and Harry never looks angry. Nick curses her laziness; she should have done her laundry as soon as she got back from her trip. Then she could have put Louis’ shirt away until Louis came to get it Friday.

“Harry,” Nick says, wanting to tell Harry the truth. But Louis doesn’t want Harry to know about them and Nick’s attempt to convince her otherwise was unsuccessful, Louis refusing to even discuss the possibility. When Nick doesn’t say anything else, Harry turns away, expression one of disappointment, storming into the living room and grabbing for her bag.

“Harry, wait. I want to tell you. I do but it’s not my secret to tell. Please understand how hard this is for me,” Nick beseeches her. Harry’s expression remains unchanged. “Let me talk to Louis, ok. She should be the one to tell you what’s going on.”

Harry stays silent but nods her head in acquiescence.

“Just promise me one thing,” Nick asks, “that you won’t confront Louis without letting me talk to her first, ok?”.

“But why, Nick?” Harry says, speaking at last. “Is there something wrong? Did something happen?”

“No, nothing’s happened. It’s nothing like that. Look, I’m suppose to see her tomorrow night can your questions wait until then?” Nick asks. But at this new bit of information Harry gives her a surprised look which quickly morphs into betrayal. Still, she nods her head.

“Thanks,” Nick says, relieved. “Thank you.”

“I’m going to go now before I get anymore upset,” Harry says.

“Alright, do you need me to call you a taxi or a car?” Nick asks.

“No, I’ve got it,” Harry says, brushing off her offer.

“I’m really sorry,” Nick tries again.

“Please don’t,” Harry says, tone brusque. “If you meant that you’d tell me what’s going on.”

“Harry, I can’t,” Nick says helplessly.

“Ok,” Harry says, dropping the subject.

Nick grabs Harry in a hug, holding onto her tightly.

“I love you,” Nick whispers into her ear. “Please don’t be cross with me.”

“I’m not cross,” Harry says, returning the hug. “I’m sad that two of my best friends are keeping secrets from me.”

Nick whines high in her throat.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not your secret. Still not happy.” Harry’s phone beeps, announcing her taxi. “Alright, that’s the taxi. You better call me or so help me Grimmy.”

“Promise,” Nick says. “Saturday, after I’ve talked to Louis.”

“Saturday.”

After seeing Harry out the door, Nick shuffles back into the living room, pouring herself a generous glass of wine before sinking into the sofa. Nick has royally fucked things up. Louis is going to be furious when Nick tells her that Harry found Louis’ shirt in her hamper and now knows something is up. Trust Harry to go snooping through Nick’s dirty clothes, Nick thinks uncharitably, but she knows she’s not being fair to Harry. It’s not Harry’s fault Nick left Louis’ vest lying about in her hamper where anyone could see it. She should have buried the shirt in the hamper or done her laundry Saturday when she got home. No use in thinking about what she should have done since there’s nothing she can do now. She’ll just have to suck it up and tell Louis what happened and hope that Louis isn’t too upset.

Before getting into bed that night, Nick checks her phone, making sure that her alarm is set for tomorrow morning. She finds an unread message from Louis, sent earlier in the day, when they were talking about Nicole Scherzinger. The text reads: _suck up! you’re just saying that cause you wanted to be a pussycat doll._

A painful ache squeezes her chest; Louis is going to hate her, Nick thinks, the realization sudden and terrible. Nick puts down the phone and turns out the light; she settles into a restless sleep, tossing and turning, flashes of Louis’ face when she hears what Nick’s done running through her mind.

 

**~*~**

 

Nick wakes up the next morning tired from a sleepless night and stressed about seeing Louis later that night. When she had first made plans to meet up with Louis Friday after her concert, Nick’s stomach filled with butterflies of anticipation. Then, yesterday, she invited Harry over for tea and the nosy popstar found Louis’ shirt in Nick’s laundry and her anticipation had turned to apprehension. Louis’ initial excuse for coming over had been so that she could retrieve said shirt from Nick; a pretext  which had eased the way for Nick to invite her to stay for tea and Nick had been hoping she would stay the night.  Now, instead of possibly having sex with Louis, Nick had to explain to Louis exactly how Harry had become involved, a task Nick was dreading, having promised not to tell Harry. Despite Nick’s fervent desire, Friday night comes as scheduled and with it, Louis knocking at her door.

“Hey. You alright?” Nick asks, letting Louis into her flat. Louis greets her with a smile, looking freshly showered after her concert, hair still a bit damp at the ends.

“Tea? I made us a brew.” Nick doesn’t mention that she’d been drinking tea all evening; she was already on her fifth cup. Tea made, sitting on the sofa, Nick tries to gather herself together to confess the mess she’s gotten herself into.

“Listen,” Nick says, interrupting Louis in the middle of a story about Liam falling on stage at a concert somewhere in South America. “I need to tell you something.” Louis trails off, eyes still bright with amusement at her story but with an inquisitive twist to her mouth. “I saw Harry yesterday. We went out to lunch after my show ended and then we came back here to hang out.”

“Yeah, ok. What about it?” Louis asks, nonplussed, well aware of Nick and Harry’s friendship.

“Well, that shirt that I accidentally packed in my bags, Harry found it in my hamper when he was over here yesterday,” Nick explains, staring at her tea cup. Letting her words sit for a second, Nick eventually brings herself to meet Louis’ eyes; Louis looks stunned.

“Wait,” Louis says, stuck in denial. “How did she know it was my shirt?”

“She remembered you wearing it at a concert last week. I tried to tell her it was mine but she didn’t believe me,” Nick says.

“Shit, Nick,” Louis exclaims, hands gripping her knees, white from squeezing so hard. “So what’d you tell her? Please tell me you didn’t tell her about us?”

“No, calm down,” Nick says, trying to stamp the hysteria in her voice. “I didn’t tell her anything. I told her I had to talk to you first and that she shouldn’t confront you about it until I had a chance to talk to you.”

“Fuck, Nick. How could you just leave something like that laying around where anyone could see? How could you be so careless?” Louis spits out through gritted teeth.

“It wasn’t just laying around where anyone could see. It was in the toilet, buried in the laundry basket,” Nick says, in her defense.

“Then how did Harry find it?” Louis asks, hands flung out, demanding an answer.

“I don’t know, she must have seen an edge or something and recognized it. That’s not the point. What’s done is done. What do you want to do about it?” Nick says, needing Louis to focus on the issue at hand.

“Fuck, I don’t know,” Louis explodes, running her hand through her short strands of hair agitatedly.

“You need to tell Harry something; she’s not going to just let it go,” Nick says, putting her tea cup down, twisting to face Louis on the sofa.

“Fuck!” Louis curses, expelling some of her anger and frustration. Nick sits beside her without replying, considering the situation with a thoughtful demeanor.

“Louis, why don’t you want to tell Harry?” Nick asks, voice as gentle as she can make it. Louis goes stiff and unresponsive next to her.

Nick tries again, choosing her words with care. “I know you told me you aren’t gay, but I think it’s safe to say you’re at least a little curious.”

Louis’ shoulders slump forwards, curling in on herself.

“You can tell me, you know? I might even be able to help, if you’ll let me,” Nick says with as much earnestness as she can muster in her voice. Still Louis doesn’t unfold from her defensive slouching.

“You can trust me,” Nick says. Louis gives her a dubious look. “Alright, yes, I did make a right mess of things but it was an accident. Nothing you tell me tonight will leave this room, promise.”

When Louis still doesn’t say anything, Nick whispers, “Please, Louis. Trust me,” laying a hand over Louis’ own where it has a tight hold over her knee.

Louis twitches her head, gaze riveted to their touching hands, Nick’s covering her own, smaller hand. She looks up, looking into Nick’s eyes and then nods once, agreeing to talk if nothing else.

“Thank you,” Nick says, silently exhaling her held breath and giving Louis’ hand one last squeeze. “When did you think you might be interested in women?”

“Not sure. Summer before sixth form, maybe,” Louis says, trying to remember, puffing out a breath that ruffles her fringe. “ I sort of liked one of my classmates but I thought it was just a silly girlhood crush, you know. And I still liked boys, so.”

“So you’re interested in men, too, then?” Nick asks, latching on to the last part of her sentence.

“Yeah, um,” Louis stammers. “I haven’t dated that many guys but I was with Eleanor for a while, years even. It just wasn’t working anymore. But it wasn’t because he was a guy.”

“And you said I was the first woman you’ve ever slept with, right?”

“Yeah, you were, I mean are the only woman I’ve ever slept with,” Louis says, blundering her way through her answer. Nick notices her cheeks reddening a bit.

“Alright, so you like men and women,” Nick says, looking to Louis for confirmation to which Louis nods her head. “Does anyone besides me know?”

“My mum knows and the oldest of my sisters, the ones who understand what it means.”

“That’s great Lou,” Nick says, a little surprised that Louis’ told her family. “What did your mum say when you told her?”

“She was really supportive. Told me she loved me no matter what and that she was proud of me for telling her. Then we cried for a bit together,” Louis says, seeming embarrassed by the admission but also proud.

“Lou, the girls are going to say the same thing,” Nick says, seeing an opportunity to plead her case.

“How do you know that? You don’t know that,” Louis says, defences immediately coming up.

“They’re your friends. They love you. Do you think Harry cares that I’m gay? She’s not going to care that you like girls,” Nick says, not understanding how Louis could think otherwise.

“You don’t know that,” Louis protests, shaking his head sadly. “I’m going to tell you a story. When I was in sixth form I knew this girl. We weren’t friends or anything but we had P.E. A levels together. About a month into the fall term she came out, told everyone she was gay. After that, none of her friends would talk to her, none of them. They didn’t even look in her direction, friends that she had known for years, nothing, didn’t want anything to do with her.”

Louis’ voice trails away, gaze caught on the edge of the coffee table, thoughts captured by her memory.

“One day, a fight broke out it the locker room,” Louis says, beginning again. “One of her former friends accused her of looking at her naked, said she was checking her out in the locker room when they were changing; called her a dike and then starting fighting her, with the other girls watching and cheering her on as they slapped and pulled each other’s hair. It was horrible. Calling her names and beating her up, all because she was gay. And she used to be her friend so don’t tell me that everything’s going to be alright.”

Louis finishes retelling her story, breathing hard from trying to keep her emotions in check. Nick sits in silence, too shocked by Louis’ words to say anything.

“That’s shit, love,” Nick says, inadequately summing up her feelings on the matter. “It’s horrible what her friend did to her. It really is. And I hope that girl was expelled from school and that the other girl pressed charges. And I’m sorry that you had to see that. But I promise that’s not going to happen to you.”

“You can’t promise me that,” Louis says, unwilling to be persuaded otherwise.

“Louis,” Nick says, softly.

“No, ok. I can’t,” Louis says, replying to Nick’s unspoken plea.

“Alright. I’m not going to push you but I want you to think about it, ok?” Changing the subject, Nick says,  “What are you going to tell Harry, if not the truth. She’s not going to drop it and she’s expecting me to call her Saturday with an explanation.” Louis gives Nick a displeased frown. “Sorry but she wouldn’t leave without a promise to call her Saturday with an update.”

After thinking to herself a moment, deep lines furrowing her face in concentration, Louis says, “How ‘bout this? We were in London this week staying in town for the shows this weekend. I’ll tell her that Wednesday night I went out drinking by myself and you showed up and helped me get away from this guy that was trying to take me home. You brought me here because you didn’t know where I lived and I was too drunk to tell you so you let me crash on your couch. And that’s how my shirt got here.”

“That doesn’t sound bad, though. Why would I be keeping that a secret?” Nick asks, digging for any holes in Louis’ explanation.

“Because I didn’t want Harry and the rest of the girls to know I’d gone out alone and gotten falling down piss drunk because I knew they’d worry so I made you promise not to tell anyone,” Louis says.

“I guess, if you think Harry will buy that,” Nick says, thoughtful. “Oh but wait. She knows we had plans to meet up Friday, how are you going to explain why we were meeting again.”

“Right,” Louis says, wracking her brain for a plausible excuse. “Let’s just stick to the truth. I forgot my shirt and I texted you if I could pick it up Friday after the show. It’ll be easier to remember that way.”

“Ok,” Nick says, nodding. “So is that what you want me to tell her when I talk to her tomorrow?”

“No, I’ll talk to her in person,” Louis says. “Just tell her that I’ll talk to her before the show.”

Nick nods again, trying to think of something to say to break the awkward silence that’s fallen on them but nothing comes to mind. God, this is such a mess. Although responsible for their current predicament of having to explain themselves to Harry, Nick is hesitant about employing more lies. She watches as Louis finishes her tea and places the mug back on the table.

“I better go. It’s getting late,” Louis says, standing up. Nick stands up as well, seeing Louis out. At the doorstep Nick stops her.

“I don’t think I said before but I’m really sorry about this,” Nick says, feeling guilty even if it was an accident that Harry found Louis’ vest.

Louis nods, shoving her hands into her pockets, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Also, just a heads up, I don’t know if Harry told you or not but I’m coming to the show Sunday,” Nick says.

“Yeah, she mentioned you would be there,” Louis says.

“So I guess I’ll see you later?” Nick asks.

“Yeah, later,” Louis says. With that, Nick lets her out, falling back on the door once she’s closed it behind her.

“What a mess,” Nick mutters under her breath, pushing herself upright. Tidying up in the living room, she carries Louis’ empty tea cup and her own half full one back into the kitchen, rinsing them out and placing them in the dishwasher. Once in bed she stares up at the ceiling for a long time ruminating over the night in her mind until eventually she drifts off to sleep.

 

**~*~**

 

Harry calls Nick first thing Saturday morning. Nick heaves a huge sigh seeing Harry’s name flash across the screen; she picks up the phone.

“Ready to tell me what’s going on,” says Harry, direct and to the point.

“I talked to Louis last night. She said she wanted to tell you in person what happened,” Nick tells her, reciting what Louis told her to say.

“Seriously,” Harry says, voice going high at the end with exasperation. “You’re still not going to tell me?”

“Harry, I know I said I’d tell you what’s going on but Louis wants to tell you herself,” Nick says, as patient as she can be.

“Nick, I’m going crazy with worry,” Harry says, anxious and concerned sounding.

“There’s nothing to worry about. If it was anything bad I would tell you,” Nick tells her reassuringly.

“But-” Harry says, trying to interrupt.

“Look, alright, if it’ll make you feel better I’ll tell you a shortened version of what happened but you’ll have to go to Louis if you have any questions,” Nick says, hoping Louis won’t mind that she told Harry an edited version of the story they had agreed on. “I found Louis in a compromising situation and she begged me not to tell because she was embarrassed but I’ll let Louis tell you the particulars, ok?”

“Compromising position, what’s that suppose to mean?” Harry asks, disregarding the last part of Nick’s sentence.

“Harry, please just wait for Louis to tell you. She’s really embarrassed that’s why she didn’t want you to know but it’s nothing serious. She just needs some time to work herself up to tell you,” Nick says, arguing Louis’ case.

“Fine, Grimshaw, but you’re not off the hook yet,” Harry says.

With that, Harry disconnects. Nick sighs. Harry’s really upset if she’s using Nick’s last name. Nothing more she can do about it now; she just has to wait and see what happens.

Too anxious to go out and too fidgety to invite any friends over, she paces her flat, tidying up a bit to keep herself occupied, keeping an eye on her phone in case she misses a text..

Later in the afternoon, Harry does text her.

_Thanks for helping Louis. I’m sorry I yelled at you._

Nick exhales a huge sigh of relief; Harry believed Louis’ story then.

_Of course, love. No need to apologize, I know you were just worried about Louis._

_You're the best. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!_

_Me, too! See you soon._

Harry can never stay angry long and she’s always quick to forgive; Nick loves that about her.

Relieved that everything was alright between Harry and Louis and between Harry and herself, Nick went to bed, assuaged that the crisis had been averted.

 

**~*~**

 

Nick has a great time at the the One Direction concert. She gets really into it, cheering and singing along to their songs, especially because the kids she’s brought with her are going crazy for the girl band, jumping around like mad all with their matching 1D concert shirts. Kate keeps giving her sideways glances from time to time, displaying much more sedate concert etiquette, but she refrains from making fun of Nick’s enthusiasm out loud.

The band puts on a good show, Nick knows from previous concerts and this is no exception; all five members are singing their hearts out, walking to and fro along the platform, waving to fans here and there. It also doesn’t hurt that Louis is in her element, singing and jumping around with the rest of the girls. She also enjoys watching the other girls: Harry, who is completely adorable, flails around the stage like a newborn baby giraffe; Zayn, looking gorgeous as always, hits her high notes without missing a beat; Niall, laughing when she’s not singing more often than not, jokes around and plays her guitar, and Liam shows off some nice dance moves. Girl’s got rhythm.

Backstage, after the show, Nick takes her young charges to meet the band. Seeing Harry, Nick takes a moment while the kids are busy getting pictures with the others to talk to her alone.

“How’d it go earlier?” Nick asks, keeping her voice low so as not to be overheard.

“Louis told me what happened,” Harry says, “but I don’t know why Louis felt like she had to keep it a secret. Yeah, I would have been upset that she went out alone, am upset that she went out alone, not even taking her bodyguard but she still should have told me.”

“I know, love. I think she was mostly embarrassed that it was me that found her, you know? Hurt her pride, like,” Nick says, repeating the explanation her and Louis rehearsed.

“That was really nice of you, by the way, to take her home and let her crash on your sofa,” Harry says tactfully not mentioning their infamous dislike for each other.

“Not that nice. I was going to throw that shirt in with the colored wash before giving it back to her,” Nick says, making  Harry laugh, sudden and bright.

“Ah, Nick you big softie,” Harry says, not fooled. Her expression turns serious. “I’m really worried about her. Going out by herself to get drunk, it’s not like her at all. Luckily you were there to stop her from going home with some random stranger, who knows what could have happened. I’m worried about her?”

“Did you ask her about it?” Nick asks, fearing that their explanation might have done more harm than good.

“Yeah, but all she said was that it was just a little bit of fun that got out of hand,” Harry says,face etched with worry. “And when I asked her why she didn’t ask one of us to go with her or one of her mates, she just said it was a last minute thing. The same thing with her bodyguard ‘oh I didn’t want to bother him’. I’m like Louis ‘he’s there for your protection, you need to bring him with you when you go out’ but she just tuned me out. I don’t know what to do?”

“Love, I know it’s hard, but it’s not your job to babysit Louis; she’s an adult and can make her own choices. All you can do is let her know you’re there for her if she wants to talk,” Nick advises.

“But what if she won’t talk to me?” Harry asks, sadness written across her face.

“Cheer up, love,” Nick says, hugging her close, a comforting hand running down her back. “It’ll be alright. Now you know you can keep a better eye on her.”

“Thanks,” Harry says, hugging her back breathing in Nick’s spicy perfume. “Oh, I almost forgot. What’s this about a BBQ I heard, at your house Thursday?”

“First game of the World Cup. You’re gonna be around right?” Nick asks.

“Yeah we’ve got a couple days off before the European leg of the tour,” Harry says. “What me to bring anything?”

“Nope, just yourself and ridiculous mop of curls,” Nick says, ruffling saif curls.

“Kay,” Harry says, scampering off to rejoin the others.

Looking around, Nick notices Louis walking towards her.

“Hey, you alright?” Louis says, once she’s reached Nick’s side. “Enjoy the concert.”

“Good, yeah. The show  was great,” Nick answers, not offering anything more.

“So, Harry was talking to you. What’d she say?” Louis asks, done with pleasantries.

“Well, she seems to believe your story, if that’s what you’re asking,” Nick says, little more than polite. Lying to Harry had left a bad taste in her mouth especially since the lie had really upset Harry. “She’s worried about you.”

“She wasn’t exactly happy to hear I’d gone off on my own to get drunk without telling anyone. Gave me a huge lecture about being safe and ‘Thank God Nick was there to take you home before you went off with some stranger’.”

“It was your idea,” Nick points out.

“It worked, didn’t it,” Louis says, shrugging but she doesn’t look as unconcerned as she sounds.

“It did,” Nick says, unable to disagree; it had worked in so far as Harry believed their lie. “Right, I’m off. I’ve got some selfies to take.”

Nick walks off, calling ‘Horan, you sexy Irish minx, get your cute butt over here.” Niall laughs loudly at the nickname, excusing herself from the group of fans around her.

“Let’s take a selfie,” NIck says. “Miley style. Come on tongues out “ Niall obliges, happy to play along, sticking her tongue out and throwing up a rocker hand.

When Nick looks up, she catches Louis watching her, an unreadable expression on her face. Nick shakes herself out of it, adjusting her phone for another picture, wondering what Louis was thinking.

 

**~*~**

 

A couple of days after the concert, Louis shows up at her flat, arriving shortly after Nick receives a simple text message.

_are you home_

Nick barely has time to send a text saying _Yes, why do you ask?_ before she hears a knock on the door.

“What if I hadn’t been home?” Nick sighs, opening  the door for Louis to come inside.

Louis shrugs, her shoulders raising up towards her ears in casual unconcern.

“What if I had been busy?”

“Were you?” Louis looks at her,sweeping her gaze around Nick’s living room. “Busy?” She asks, as if the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“No but I could have been,” Nick insists. “Busy woman, I am, very in-demand. You really shouldn’t make it a habit to come over to people’s flats unannounced.”

“I did let you know!”

“Asking if I’m home is not the same as asking if you can come over.”

“Are you telling me to leave?” Louis asks, indignantly.

“No, you mannerless brat,” Nick says, exasperated. “By all means, make yourself comfortable. Tea?”

“Yeah,” Louis says, stretching out on Nick’s sofa while Nick goes into the kitchen to make the tea and grab a packet of chocolate digestives.

“So just in the neighborhood, were you? Thought you’d just drop by?” Nick says, setting a tray with everything on it down on the coffee table. Louis just rolls her eyes at Nick.

“What can I say, I missed your ugly mug,” Louis says, throwing Nick a smirk out of the corner of her mouth.

“Charming,” Nick says, voice flat.

Louis’ smirk widens, looking far too pleased with herself..

“Did you just come over to annoy me?”

“No,” Louis says, annoyingly.

“Are you going to tell me why you did come over?” Nick asks. Louis fidgets, looking less sure of herself than she did a minute ago. “Sometime today, perhaps?”

“Ugh, why do you always have to be such a prat,” Louis says, childish whine to her voice.

“Takes one to know one, darling,” Nick says, staring Louis down.

“Fine,” Louis huffs. Then, as if the words physically pain her to say, “Do you want to hook up again?”

Nick opens her mouth to reply then stops, momentarily taken aback by Louis’ unexpected words. After the complicated story they concocted and told to Harry in order to keep their relationship hidden, Nick assumed that was the end of it; not that she would call sleeping together twice a relationship but whatever it was Nick did not expect Louis to want to sleep with her again. She figured Louis would want to stop hooking up after almost being caught; the chance of Louis’ sexuality being revealed not worth the risk.

Nick felt uneasy about continuing to sleep together less for fear of discovery, being out to her friends and family as well as the public but because she hated lying to Harry. Seeing Harry angry and upset had left Nick with a sick feeling in her stomach, a nauseous turning of her insides. The situation necessitated lying to Harry to keep Louis’ real secret hidden: that her sexuality included a predilection towards women as well as men; a secret Louis was not ready divulge. Nick supported Louis’ decision even if she viewed Louis’ reasoning behind her decision to be faulty but that didn’t mean Nick was going to participate in behavior that would mean telling Harry more lies.

“Louis,” Nick says, uncertain of what to say. “What exactly are we doing?”

“What do you mean, what are we doing?” Louis asks, genuine confusion marking her expression.

“I mean,” Nick says, gathering her thoughts. “Where is this going? It was fine in the beginning when this was just a one off sort of thing and no one was getting hurt. But lying to Harry sucked. And I know it was my fault she found out but I can’t keep lying to her.”

“You make it seem as if I like lying to Harry,” Louis says, shifting in her seat. “I don’t. I hate it. So you can stop acting all High and Mighty.”

“Louis,” Nick sighs.

“If you don’t want to see me again that’s all you have to say. You don’t have to make up excuses.”

“That’s not it at all. But I don’t see how to make this work without someone getting hurt.”

“No one has to get hurt. We just have to be more careful. As long as we’re careful she won’t find out and we won’t have to lie to her.”

“Sneaking around behind her back is lying,” Nick argues, shaking her head. “Besides, even if we’re careful that still doesn’t guarantee that it won’t happen again.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“Me?” Nick practically shouts. “You’re the one who keeps freaking out and wanting to keep it a secret.”

“You know why I have to keep it a secret,” Louis says, blue eyes flashing with fury.

“I know you think they’ll stop being your friends but they won’t. They love you,” Nick says. Louis looks as if she’s about to retort but Nick stops her. “That’s not the issue. If you’re not ready to come out to your friends I’m not going to pressure you, that’s a decision you have to make. But I came out of the closet a long time ago and I can’t go back in.”

Nick stops, looking down at her hands in her lap, then whispers, softly, “Not for anyone.”

“Fine, I see how it is.” Louis stands up, in a rush to get to the door.

“Wait, Louis.” Nick says, chasing after Louis before she can leave. “Please don’t be mad. Maybe if things were different but they’re not. And- I just. If you ever need someone to talk to, about whatever, I’m here alright.” Nick remembers how lonely it could get, being different and feeling like an outsider.

Louis gives a small, almost imperceptible nod, and then she’s gone, leaving Nick standing alone with her thoughts.

 

**~*~**

 

Despite having extended an olive branch of friendship to Louis, Nick imagines Louis will need a little time to get over her rejection. Which is why, when she opens her front door Thursday, she’s surprised to see Louis standing outside with Harry a step behind her.

Nick was hosting a FIFA World Cup BBQ and had invited a bunch of friends, including Harry, to come over to her flat and watch the opening game of the series. She had not, however, invited Louis, for a number of reasons not the least of which was that everybody thought they hated each other and it would have garnered strange looks and awkward questions from her friends about why the notorious Louis Tomlinson was in her flat. Nick was doubly surprised to see Louis in her flat after having ended their secret affair quite recently and not on the greatest of terms.

“Hiya,” Nick greets the pair, concealing her surprise. “Everyone, Harry and Louis off 1D are here,” Nick shouts over her shoulder into the flat. She leads the way into the living room where her friends are eating appetizers and watching the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

“Everyone, this is Harry and Louis. Harry and Louis, this is everyone,” Nick says, not bothering to make proper introductions. Harry knows all her friends already anyway, Nick’s sure she’ll make Louis’ introductions.

She heads into the kitchen; her h’orderves should be just about done baking. Louis comes into the kitchen while Nick is busy taking out two full pans of appetizers from the oven. Louis stands there quietly watching Nick pick up the mini pigs in a blanket with her fingers from the cooking sheet, chiding when Nick picks up an especially hot one. Nick yelps, ‘ _Ouch!_ ’ and immediately sticks her burnt fingers in her mouth.

“Why aren’t you using a spatula, you numpty?” Louis asks, walking over to Nick’s counter, opening drawers at random. “Where do you keep the cutlery?”

Nick points to a drawer to her left with her uninjured hand, continuing to nurse her burned fingers. Louis pulls a metal spatula from it and proceeds to scoop up mini wrapped hot dog appetizers onto the waiting plate.

“It wasn’t my idea to come here, so you know. I tried to get out of it but Harry wouldn’t budge,” Louis says, catching Nick off guard. Nick winces from the hard metallic clang of the spatula coming into contact with the baking sheet as Louis scrapes the appetizers off.

“I’m sorry for how things ended between us but, I really don’t want to fight with you right now. And I doubt you do either, with Harry in the next room. So, truce?” Nick says.

“Truce,” Louis says, deflating like a punctured balloon, all at once.

“Wonderful. And who knows you might even have fun.” Nick smiles at the doubtful look Louis sends her.

Having Louis in her flat, with a large group of her friends, is a bit strange, Nick will admit, certainly not an occurrence she ever envisioned happening. But Nick thinks they could be friends, wants to be Louis’ friend so she’s going to make the best out of this unexpected opportunity. But before Nick can make any leeway towards that end, Harry walks into the room carrying the empty appetizers plate, ruining the moment.

“Nick, we need m-,” Harry says, coming into the kitchen, speech faltering for a second when she sees the two of them. “Nick, we need more snacks. Everyone loved those mini wrapped hot dog things.”

“Thanks, Harry. Louis was just helping me put some more on a plate,” Nick says, avoiding Harry’s twinkling eyes.

“That was sweet of her,” Harry says, smile threatening to overtake her face. “You look proper domestic with that spatula, Lou.”

“Here,” Louis says, thrusting the full plate of appetizers into Harry’s hands, ignoring Harry’s pointed glances.

“And another bottle of wine,” Nick says, handing her a bottle of red wine. Harry dutifully takes the plate in one hand and the wine in the other and walks back into the living room with one last infuriating knowing look at the both of them. Nick rolls her eyes. “Louis, would you take these plates and napkins in there for me, thanks.”

“Aren’t you coming back in there with us?” Louis asks when Nick moves to open the door to the garden.

“I will in a minute. I’ve got to start up the grill for the chicken.”

“Oh, would you listen to that ‘start up the grill’. Didn’t take you for the grilling type, Grimshaw.”

“Amazing cook, I am. I’ve seen every episode of Great British Bake Off.”

“I better fill up on those appetizers, then,” Louis says with a bratty smirk.

“Rude,” Nick says, shaking her tongs at her. “That’s enough of your lip, Tomlinson. Get out of my kitchen before I accidentally drop your piece of chicken on the floor.”

Preoccupied with heating up the grill, Nick fails to notice the door to the garden opening and closing. She looks up to see Collette beside her, a glass of wine dangling from her fingers.

“So,” Collette says, ”going to tell me what Louis Tomlinson is doing here?”

Nick forgot that she told Collette what had happened the night of David Beckham’s swimwear launch. Of course Collette hadn’t forgot but this really wasn’t the time or place to explain everything that had taken place since then.  

“Harry invited her.”

“And you’re ok with that?”

“It’s a bit strange.”

“Hmm,” Collette hums. “Did something else happen between you guys?”

Nick nods her head. “But before you ask,” Nick says, cutting her off, “it’s a long story and not one I can tell you with Louis or Harry around to overhear.”

“Alright,” Collette says, understanding. “Can I come over next week, then?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nick says. “Pop round whenever, just give us a ring first.”

Grill lit and chicken put on to cook, Nick leads Collette back into the living room with everyone else; she trusts Collette to play it cool and not give Nick away. Nick sits down on the sofa armrest next to Aimee, who’s busy typing on her phone and not paying the least attention to the football match. Next to Aimee on the sofa, Lily and Louis are both hunched forward on the sofa with their elbows on their knees, eyes glued to the telly.

Nick leans down to whisper in Aimee’s ear, “What’d I miss?”

Aimee looks up from her phone, thumbs still flying rapidly over her keypad, “Um, I think Brazil scored?”

Suddenly, both Louis and Lily jump to their feet, punching the air with loud whoops of delight.

“What happened? Did someone score?” Nick asks.

“Croatia scored,” Lily says, high fiving Louis.

“Oh, I thought we wanted Brazil to win?” Nick asks, confused.

“No!” Shout Lily and Louis simultaneously.

“We want England to win the World Cup,” Louis explains.

“But England isn’t playing today,” Nick says, even more confused.

“No, but if Brazil loses, England has a better chance of winning the whole thing,” Lily says, finishing Louis’ explanation.

“I see.” Nick doesn’t see. This football thing is complicated. “I need to check on the chicken,” Nick announces, grateful for an excuse to leave.

Nick shares a look with Harry whose expression seems to say ‘I’m with you’ with a side of ‘They’re mad about football’ but also ‘What are you going to do? It makes them happy’. Nick really needs to stop having silent conversations when Harry’s had more than three glasses of wine.

Despite Nick’s almost zero interest in the actual sport of football, the BBQ is fun. She thinks it doesn’t hurt that Lily and Louis are so into it that their fanaticism infects everyone and by the end of the game the whole party is shouting at the telly.

After the game ends, Brazil winning 3-1, people start to head out little by little. Harry and Louis are some of the first to leave, having to head out for the start of their European tour tomorrow. At the door, Nick gives Louis a sympathetic look, seeing how upset Brazil’s win has made her.

“Sorry, Tomlinson, better luck next time. Hopefully England kicks ass in their game,” Nick says, hoping to cheer Louis up a bit.

“They’re totally going to kick Italy’s arse!” Louis says, an unholy gleam in her eyes.

“You’re in for a rough night,” Nick says to Harry. “Maybe don’t let her get on the internet for a while.”

“Already on it,” Harry says waving Louis’ phone. “Niall texted her earlier and I thought her head was going to explode.” Harry leaned in conspiratorially to whisper the next bit for only Nick to hear. “Niall wants Brazil to win the World Cup.”  Harry glances around quickly to make sure Louis didn’t overhear her say that. But Louis’ already outside, getting into a taxi cab. “I better go. Bye Nick. Thanks for having us. Talk to you later.”

Harry gives her a brief, fleeting hug, then takes off after Louis. Nick shakes her head fondly, shutting the door, and going to rejoin the rest of the party.

 

~*~

 

On the way to work the next morning, Nick realizes that it’s only been a little over a month since David Beckham’s H&M after party. She can’t believe how much has happened in the ensuing time. Hard to believe that only a month and a half ago, Nick hated Louis and wanted nothing to do with her. Now she’s crossing her fingers hoping there’s a chance they’ll become friends. Oh, how times have changed.

That night, Nick decides to go out, it’s a Friday, she doesn’t have to be up early tomorrow, why not? She wants to dance, let loose a bit; lose herself in the music and give her brain a break from obsessing over Louis. She can’t seem to stop thinking about what she could have done differently. Maybe she should have taken Louis up on her offer to keep hooking up. With enough time Nick might have been able to persuade Louis that coming out to her friends wouldn’t end in the doom and gloom that she thought it would.

But no, that wouldn’t have worked. Who knows how long that would take or if it would even have worked at all. And in the meantime, Nick would have had to keep lying to her friends which wasn’t fair to anybody.

Nick resolves not to think about it anymore, using work as a distraction, diverting all of her excess energy into the Breakfast Show. She also starts hanging out with her friends more, filling any free time she has from the show with spending time with friends. She tries a bunch of new restaurants and hits up all of her favorite clubs. She djs a couple of gigs and attends a couple fashion events, as well. Easy to keep herself busy in a city like London.

As promised, Nick has Collette over again, recounting the events that occurred in the interim between the last time they talked: her trip to Manchester, the discovery of the hastily packed vest by Harry, and the rouse Louis had devised to divert Harry from learning the truth of their affair. Collette listens patiently through it all, making suitable sympathetic noises where appropriate.

The process of telling Collette the whole messy story proves cathartic for Nick, who was unaware of how much she had been suppressing her emotions, glad of the chance to unburden her psyche. Nick only tells Collette the parts of the story that involve her directly, though, leaving out any mention of Louis’ sexuality.

A couple of times Nick finds herself wanting to send Louis a text, a simple hello or how are you, but she always seems to change her mind at the last minute. Finally, a week and a day after Nick’s World Cup BBQ and a week since One Direction started their European Tour, Nick caves and texts Louis.

_Hey, how are you?_

Curled up on the sofa, Nick’s eyes flick from the telly to the phone in her hand. Twenty minutes into a rerun of East Enders, Louis texts back.

 _not good_ , Louis texts back sending Nick’s mind racing with increasingly dire scenarios.

_Oh no, what’s wrong?_

_england lost yesterday_

_Oh Louis,_ Nick thinks, she should have guessed.

_Sorry :( Better luck next time._

_:(_

Louis tells her that the shows have been going great when Nick asks how the European leg of their world tour is coming along: the fans have been really supportive, sometimes whole stadiums holding up the same sign, filling the venue with their homemade posters. Louis asks how Nick is doing, responding with genuine interest when Nick tells her she’s got a benefit to go to for children.

Nick continues to text Louis, mostly everyday things, talking about the Breakfast Show and anything fun she’s doing. Louis likewise texts her, describing the shows and any fun sightseeing she does until they’re texting nearly everyday. The conversation stays light, the both of them avoiding any serious topics, neither of them mentioning their recent affair or Harry.

Nick warns Louis that the upcoming weekend Nick will be at Glastonbury so she’ll be out of touch for most of it since she won’t be able to charge her phone when they’re camping. Louis assures her that it’s fine seeing as how they’ll be releasing their upcoming concert in Milan as a DVD and she’ll be busy filming the whole weekend.

Glasto is amazing. Nick has a great time. She actually manages to watch the many sets she planned on seeing unlike previous years when she would show up an hour or two past the scheduled time the band she planned on seeing was set to play. A ton of her friends are at the festival and she’s able to catch up with a lot of friends she hasn’t seen in awhile. She even manages to climb onstage at one point, although how she did it she had no idea.

The festival is still going strong when she calls it quits late Sunday night. She’s set to drive home early Monday morning, making the short trip back to the city in good time. Having driven down to the festival with Alexa and Daisy, they are in the car with her, all three of them tired and hungover. She drops off Alexa at her flat, and then heads to the street that Daisy and her live on, managing to find a parking space across the street. They unpack their muddy luggage from the boot of Nick’s car, untying their various camping gear from the top of the car. They part at the steps leading down to Nick’s flat, giving each other a kiss on the cheek and promises to get tea later in the week.

As soon as Nick is through her door she takes off anything muddy, which is everything, and stumbles to her bed for a midday nap. She wakes up a little later, the sun just beginning to set. She barrels into the kitchen, ravenously hungry after living on beer and chips for the last three days. She fixes herself a meal consisting of a sandwich made from whatever was in the fridge and some yogurt she found behind the milk. She sits down at her counter to eat and check her fully charged phone which she had plugged in before falling asleep.

Nick turns on her phone to half a dozen text messages and a few missed calls. She also has an unread text message from Louis sent a couple of hours ago.

_i told the girls i’m gay_

Nick has to read the message twice before the meaning sinks in.

 _That’s great, Louis. Really proud of you._ Nick gets a reply back right away. Louis must have been waiting for her reply even though Louis sent the text a while ago.

_thanks thought I was gonna puke the whole time_

_How did the girls take the news?_

_told me they loved me and hugged me a bunch_

_See?_

_yeah, yeah, you told me so_

Nick has so many questions. She’s glad Louis’ told the girls but she’s curious what changed her mind. The last time they’d spoken about Louis coming out Louis had been adamant about staying in the closet for fear of her band’s reaction. Nick had tried to convince her that her fear was irrational but to no avail; Louis refused to even consider it. Something must have happened to change her mind, Nick is sure of it but she doesn’t feel entitled to ask those kinds of questions.

In the end, Nick leaves it at congratulations. Louis needs a friend right now, not another complication. Nick is determined to treat Louis no differently now that Louis has come out to her band. This is about Louis not Nick; it couldn’t have been easy for Louis to come out to the girls and Nick intends to be there to support her.

The next day Nick’s back at work, having requested Monday off, knowing she’d need a day to recover from the festivities, and 5SOS are in the studio for an interview. Nick has Matt take a picture of her with the band to send it to Louis.

 _Look who’s in the studio this morning,_ Nick captions the picture.

_careful, they’re frisky lads_

_Too late. The green haired one tried to cop a feel during spin the bottle._

_MICHAEL DID WHAT? DURING WHAT?_

Nick sends her the link to the video. Fifteen minutes later Louis texts her again.

_aren’t you too old to be kissing teenagers_

_Oii, I’m not old, first of all. And secondly, I’M NOT OLD._

_pervert_

Nick laughs, putting her phone away and getting back to the radio before Finchy has a heart attack. She goes over their brief exchange in her head; was Nick flirting with her? It’s hard to say, a lot of their text conversations have a liberal amount of banter and relentless teasing. Before Nick would have said no that was just them but now, with Louis’ recent admission, Nick isn’t so sure. Nick will have to be more mindful in the future to keep their conversations purely friendly.

Late one night loud ringing wakes Nick up. She turns over to see her phone lit up with bright light. She grabs it from her dresser and presses answer without bothering to check who’s calling; whoever it is better have a good reason for disturbing her on a weeknight.

“‘ello?” Nick says, groggily.

“Nick,” a voice says that Nick recognizes as Louis’.

“Louis?”

“Nick, listen, listen.” Nick detects the slurred speak of someone who’s has quite a bit to drink.

“Yes, Louis. I’m listening.”

“Nick. We should have sex again.” Nick cringes. She can’t believe Louis is calling her at, she pulls the phone away from her ear, 3 o’clock in the morning, drunk and wanting to talk about sex.

“You’re pissed, Lou,” Nick says, stating the obvious..

“I’m not pissed,” Louis says, that special brand of belligerent particular to the truly drunk. “And I think we should have sex.”

“Where are you? Is there anyone with you who can take care of you?” Nick asks. She hopes that Louis isn’t locked away in some club’s bathroom stall.

“In my room,” Louis slurs and Nick can hear the creak of bed springs.

“Good, ok. Is anyone with you?”

“Nuh uh. By myself.”

“Lou, I’m going to call Harry to take care of you, ok? Someone should be there with you.”

“No. No, Harry. Want you,” Louis says like a petulant child.

“Lou,” Nick sighs. What does Louis expect? For Nick to board a plane at 3 in the morning to go see her.

“Nick. I want you to spank me,” Louis says, breathing ragged in Nick’s ear.

“Louis, you’re drunk,” Nick says, ignoring the tight twist to her stomach that Louis’ words provoke.

“Please, Nick. I keeping thinking about the first time we had sex, how you slapped my thigh,” Louis says. “and I-I came so _hard_.” She says this as if it’s a secret, as if the memory isn’t seared into Nick’s mind.

“God, _Louis,_ ” Nick groans.  

Nick can’t help but imagine the scene; Louis on her hands and knees, Nick kneeling behind her, spanking her naked ass with her bare hand.

Fuck, Nick should stop this conversation, should tell Louis to drink a glass of water and go to bed. Louis is drunk, she doesn’t know what she’s saying and Nick should hang up on her. But Nick doesn’t, she stays on the line, phone pressed to her ear.

“You’ve got such nice hands.” Louis’ voice catches in her throat. “Such nice, long fingers.”

On the other end of the line, Nick hears the faint rustling of bed sheets and the rhythmic sounds of a hand moving up and down underneath a duvet.

“Fuck,” Nick says, clutching the phone harder against her ear. “You’re touching yourself, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Louis says, on a moan. “‘m close.”

“Fuck,” Nick says again.

“Nick,” Louis groans, her voice gone husky and deep.

Nick slowly pulls the phone away from her ear where it had begun to hurt. It had been pressed hard into the piece of plastic while she was straining to detect every moan. She switches the phone to her other ear, hearing Louis’ breaths slowly evening out.

Willing herself not to reach down with her own hand and get herself off, Nick calms down by concentrating on Louis’ breathing, matching her breaths to Louis’ now slowed exhalations.

“Lou?” Nick says.

Louis doesn’t answer.

“Louis,” Nick tries again. Still no response. Nick checks her phone to see if maybe they were disconnected. But no, Louis is still on the line. Nick listens to Louis soft, even breathing.

Nick cannot believe that just happened to her. Not only did Louis call her in the middle of the night, drunk, to have phone sex but she fell asleep afterwards. Not to mention leaving Nick uncomfortably aroused, her wetness soaking through a layer of panties and pajama shorts when Nick reaches down between her thighs.

Nick throws off the duvet and goes to take a shower, no point in going back to bed when she knows she won’t be able to sleep. She turns the water as cold as she can stand it, as much as to wake herself up as to cool her hormone addled body.

All through the day, Nick is distracted by thoughts of her recent phone call with Louis; figments of Louis’ voice filtering through her mind. After her shower, she walks into the kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal absentmindedly pouring orange juice over her fruity pops and having to throw it out. At the studio, Nick has to be told no less than four times by Matt to pay attention and messes up just as many links.

The problem is: Nick broke things off with Louis before she left for One Direction’s tour of Europe. Despite constant texts back and forth and Louis confiding in her that she came out to her band, they haven’t talked about their relationship since Louis’ departure. Now Louis is drunk booty calling her and telling her she wants Nick to spank her; Nick has no idea what to do with any of that.  

When the show is over Nick heads straight home, canceling her afternoon lunch plans with Daisy. She plans on falling into bed as soon as she gets home but as she’s hanging up her jacket and taking off her shoes she is surprised to see Louis’ name pop up on her phone; Louis is calling her.

“Hi,” Nick says, answering the phone once she’s overcome her shock.

“Hey,” Louis says, then pauses. Louis sounds terrible, her voice hoarse and croaky like a frog’s, a very hungover frog. “About last night.” Nick waits for her to continue, sipping at a glass of water, leaning against her kitchen sink but the line remains silent.

“When you drunkenly called me at 3 in the morning, you mean?” Nick asks, staring at the clear container; there’s a smudge near the top leftover from being in the dishwasher. Nick is amazed that Louis remembers anything from last night, let alone that she made a call to Nick.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Louis says, sounding embarrassed. “The girls took me out last night to celebrate being gay or coming out, not sure, but there were shots. Lots and lots of shots. Niall dared me to do one for every color of the rainbow.”

“Wow.”

“You have no idea. According to Niall grass is a color.” Nick chuckles, picturing Niall screaming out random colors like ‘To magenta’ and ‘This one’s for fuschia’.

Louis goes on, “I meant what I said last night. I- I want to hook up again.”

“You were smashed, Lou, you didn’t know what you were saying,” Nick says, picking at a thread that’s come loose from her shirt.

“I wasn’t so pissed that I don’t remember what I said,” Louis insists, “and I  meant it...all of it” Louis adds quietly but emphatically.

“Louis,” Nick sighs, refusing to touch that last bit with a ten foot pole. “We can’t. You know we can’t.”

“Why?” Louis whines like a spoilt child who hasn’t gotten their way.

“We talked about this already,” Nick says, sliding down her kitchen cabinet to sit on the floor, arms pressing her knees tightly to her body.

“But I came out. I told the girls.”

“I know, love, and I am so, so proud of you for doing that,” Nick says, needing Louis to believe that. “But that doesn’t change anything.”

“But why? I thought that’s what you wanted?”

“What about us, love? Are you going to tell them about us?”

“I can,” Louis says, and Nick can’t see her face but she has no trouble imagining Louis’ squirmy look that she gets when she doesn’t want to talk about something.

“And what about my friends? You know I’m going to want to tell them, too.”

“You can tell your friends,” Louis says.

“And you’d be ok with that? Really?”

“Well, don’t paste it in the bloody Sun, but yeah, your closest friends. I’d be ok with that.”

“What would I even tell them?” Nick asks. “What do you want from me, Lou?”

“I don’t know, ok,” Louis says. “I’ve never dated a woman before and I’ve been in a long term relationship for so long that I don’t how this dating thing works anymore but I’m willing to figure it out as we go if you are?”

“I don’t know, Lou,” Nick says, the words floating over the line on a long held breath. “Maybe, ok?”

“Look, the tour is almost over and then we have two and a half weeks off before we go to America. Can we can talk then?”

“Yeah, alright.”

“Great,” Louis says, breath coming out as a whoosh over the line. “I’ll text you when I’m back in London.”

“Yeah,” Nick says, forehead resting on her knees. “Yeah, text me with the details.”

“Ok. Thanks, Nick.” Louis pauses. “And thanks for last night, too.” Nick hears the line go dead indicating that Louis has disconnected the call. Banging her head back against the cabinet door, Nick groans, loud and deep.

“I am so not ready to have this conversation,” Nick says to no one, sitting alone on her kitchen floor staring up at the ceiling.  

 

**~*~**

 

Nick doesn’t completely shut down communication with Louis in the days before One Direction is set to return to London but by mutual understanding they give each other space and keep their texts to a minimum. Louis sends Nick her flight details which show Louis scheduled to get in late Sunday night, flying home directly after their show in Portugal. Louis asks if she can come over on Monday night after she’s had the day to catch up on her sleep and Nick agrees. Monday is in less than a week.

The end of the European leg of 1D’s tour approaches much too fast until finally it’s Monday night and Nick’s no closer to being ready to deal with Louis face to face. Louis had text Nick before her show in Porto confirming that they were still on for Monday night and despite a horrible cause of nervous jitters, Nick had assured her that they were.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Nick startles so hard she almost falls off the sofa. Padding to the door barefoot, Nick lets Louis in with a quick glance through the peephole to check that it is, in fact, Louis.

“Is it ok if we sit in the living room to talk?” Louis asks. Nick nods, leading the way into the living room.

“I guess I’ll start.” Louis begins once they’ve settled themselves on the sofa, bodies turned towards each other. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I thought a lot about what you said.”

Louis searches Nick’s face, continuing after a quiet moment.

“And I think I’m ok with it...with everything, telling the girls and my friends from back home. And with you telling your friends. I’d have to tell management, as well, but I’m ok with all of that.”

“But,” Nick says, knowing there’s one coming.

“But I’m not ready to publicly come out.”

“Alright. I understand that and as long as the important people know the rest doesn’t matter but have you thought about what it means? To date someone hidden from the public eye? We won’t be able to kiss in public or hold hands and even just hanging out together will arouse suspicions, will you be able to deal with that?”

Nick needs Louis to understand exactly what she’s getting herself into. If they do this, decide to date seriously, then Nick needs to know that Louis is aware of the limits of a relationship secret from the public.

“I mean it’s not like they left Eleanor and I alone, ever. I’m used to the scrutiny.”

“This’ll be worse than that; you’ll be hiding two things, your sexuality and your relationship with me.”

“I know,” Louis says.

“You leave for tour soon. That doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to figure this out.”

“I know but we can text and skype and I’ll come home on our breaks. I’ve done long distance before, it’s doable.” Louis’ eyes implore her to agree, to say yes to giving them a shot.

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m in.” Nick smiles at Louis. “But you have to tell the girls about us, not immediately but before you leave for America, deal?”

“I was thinking. Why don’t I invite them over to my place for dinner and we can both tell them, would that be ok?”.

“Yeah, we could do that,” Nick says, somewhat astonished. Louis’ actually given this some thought.

“Great. So we’re dating now, right?” Louis asks, inching closer along the sofa.

“Yeah, I guess so after the way you pretty much begged me to date you.”

“Excuse me, you’re the one that wanted to make it official and tell all our friends,” Louis walks two fingers up Nick’s arm. “I think we should have sex. To celebrate.”

“Oh, do you? How romantic. Is this how you wooed all your past boyfriends,” Nick says, leaning away from Louis’ advances.

“Shut up, Grimshaw and take your trousers off.”

“That’s really no way to talk to a lady.” Nick captures Louis’ hands as they move to unbutton her jeans.

“I wasn’t talking to a lady, I was talking to you,” Louis says, peppering Nick’s neck with kisses.

“How very clever of you, you must be the witty member of 1D.”

“Do you ever stop talking?” Louis sits up, pulling away from Nick’s body.

“No,” Nick says. “Now move. We need a bed for what I want to do to you.”

In the bedroom, laying out on the sheets, clothes left discarded where they fell, Nick slowly kisses her way up Louis’ body, a quick squeeze to Louis’ bum as she goes to reacquaint herself with the luscious appendage.

Leisurely, Nick slides her mouth wetly across Louis’ own, dipping her tongue between Louis’ lips, gently exploring and tasting her mouth. Nick feels an ache between her thighs, body hot and feverish, all from only a few kisses.

“Ready?” Nick asks. Louis nods. “Turn over, hands and knees.” Louis contemplates Nick for one long second and Nick thinks she might have changed her mind but then she’s turning over, planting her hands firmly on the bed. Nick drinks in the sight of Louis’ plump, rounded ass cheeks.She grasps a handful of Louis’ ass in both palms and kneads, evoking a quiet moan from Louis.

Nick brings her hand down, hard, on Louis’ ass. Louis gasps and jerks forward but Nick holds her firm. Nick waits, pausing for the bright red hand print to fade. Then she brings down her hand again on the other side this time. Nick figures 20 smacks is a good enough number to stop at, ten for each side, and silently keeps count in her head.

Halfway through, Louis’ arms give out and she collapses onto her elbows, gasping wetly into the pillow. Nick stops.

“Don’t-,” Louis licks her lips, wetting her mouth. “Don’t stop.”

Nick starts up again, delivering each smack with enough force to redden the skin but not bruise. Finishing the allotted number of smacks, Nick just stares, loving how red Louis’ skin has gotten, hot to the touch.

Nick spreads Louis’ cheeks apart, running her thumb over Louis’ hole, pink and tight. Louis inhales sharply, thighs trembling at the touch.

Nick gives a tentative lick, wanting to get a taste of her.

“Nick,” Louis moans, fingers gone white from clenching the sheets so tight.

“Shh,”  Nick tells her. “You were so good for me. You took your spanking so well. Gonna take such good care of you.” Nick leans forward, licking more firmly, tongue circling the puckered skin of Louis’ hole.

Setting a fast, furious pace, Nick goes to work taking Louis apart with her mouth. Spurred on by Louis’ wanton pleas of _more_ and _harder_ , Nick presses her mouth  tight to Louis’ hole until the entire lower half of her face is wet.

“Touch yourself,” Nick says.

Louis reaches down, obeying Nick’s command. Nick feels Louis come, her hole twitching around Nick’s tongue. Nick sits back on her haunches, releasing her hold of Louis’ hips. Louis drops down, her body being held up by Nick’s grip, now free, collapses.

Nick considers Louis splayed body then crawls forward, positioning herself over Louis’ bum. She spreads herself open, letting the weight of her body press her down and proceeds to rub one off on Louis’ ass cheek.

Louis turns her head to the side trying to speak around a mouthful of pillow, “Why are you always humping me like a dog? I’m not an animal, you know?”

“Well if somebody wasn’t so bloody useless after they’ve come.”

“Afterglow, mate. You’re ruining it.”

“Yes, well, some of us would like to experience the afterglow, too, but some of us still haven’t come yet.”

“Ugh, quit your whining, Grimshaw.” Louis says, from beneath Nick’s spread thighs. “And lay on your back.”

Nick does as Louis says, toppling over onto her back. Louis sits up, gingerly putting weight onto her sore backside and scoots over, situating herself between Nick’s legs.

“Love, are you sure you’re ready for this?” Nick asks.

“Go on then, give it a go.”

Louis puts her mouth on Nick, fumbling a bit before she latches on to Nick’s clit then steadily working up to a rhythm. Nick watches her from above, lifted up on her elbows. She’s mesmerized more by the sight of Louis down between her thighs more than she is by the touch of Louis’ mouth, that is until Louis does a particularly complicated with her tongue and Nick is falling back onto the bed.

“Oh, fuck, Louis,” Nick pants. “Do that again.”

Louis does do it again and again and soon Nick is moving her hips in little circles, chasing her orgasm. She reaches it, mind exploding with a bright, white light behind her closed eyelids. Nick runs her hand through Louis hair, her fingers gripping onto the strands, but softly, holding Louis in place while she comes down.

Exhausted, Nick loosens her hold of Louis’ hair but doesn’t let go, simply running her fingers through her short, sweaty fringe. Louis wipes her mouth off with the back of her hand and looks up at Nick with the smuggest smile Nick has ever seen.

“Don’t you go getting a big head,” Nick warns.

“I thought I did pretty good for my first time,” Louis says.

“Yes, you’re a regular savant of cunnilingus,” Nick says, rolling her eyes. “Now stop patting yourself on the back and get up here and kiss me.”

Louis moves up Nick’s body, pulled along by Nick’s hands on her shoulders, tugging, landing over Nick propped up on her elbows.

Breaking away from the kiss, Louis plops onto the bed beside Nick, arms tired from holding herself raised over Nick, and immediately lets out a painful groan, flopping onto her front.

“Sorry, love. Bit sore, is it?”

“Yeah, fuck. I forgot about that,” Louis says.

Nick rolls over onto her side, running her hand over the curves of Louis’ body. “Hurts?”

“Yes, especially when touched,” Louis says, sending Nick an annoyed look but making no move to push Nick’s roving hand away.

“Want Daddy to kiss it all better?” Nick asks, a dark, tight spark infusing her limbs as she presses down, hard, on the bright, hot skin of Louis’ ass.

Louis moans in exaggerated embarrassment at Nick’s words, lifting up the pillow and slamming it over her head, burying her face.

“Well, get to it,” Louis says, peaking out from beneath the fluffy material.

So Nick does; opening Louis’ legs wide and returning to kneel between them once again, Louis’ moans the only thing she hears for awhile.

 

~*~

 

Standing in Louis’ kitchen, Nick busies herself with arranging crackers and cheese on a serving plate in the most pleasing way possible. After their talk, Louis had promised to invite the girls of 1D over to tell them about their relationship. So here Nick was, waiting in Louis’ flat for the rest of Louis’ band to show up. Liam and Niall are the first to arrive and Nick greets them in the living room where she sets down the cheese and crackers tray on the table.

“Hiya, Grimmy. Fancy seeing you here. Did Harry invite you,” Niall asks.

“Nah, was just in the neighborhood, innit.”

“Uh, oh. Where’s Harry? Are we going to have to protect you from The Tommo?” Liam says, mostly joking.

“I would worry about protecting yourself,” Louis says, coming back into the room with Zayn in tow. Using Zayn’s arrival as a distraction, Louis reaches out to pinch Liam’s nipple.

“Fuck, Louis. How do you always get me with that.” Liam says massaging her no doubt tender nipple.

Zayn pulls Liam to her chest. “Come here babes, I’ll protect you from mean ol’ Louis.”

“Thanks, Zayn.” Liam says brightly, snuggling into Zayn’s embrace. Zayn moves in to pinch her other nipple.

“Zayn, what the hell.”

“High five, mate.” Louis says, holding her hand up for Zayn to high five gleefully.

“Is this what being in a girl band is like? Inappropriate nipple touching?” Nick asks in a scandalized tone. “Cause I have to say, if it is, I really missed my calling.”

Harry walks in at that moment having let herself in.

“Hi, everybody. Sorry I’m late.” Harry says, glancing around the group arranged in Louis’ living room. Harry stops when she notices Nick sitting among them. “What are you doing here?”

“Oii, rude,” Nick says, mock offended. “I was invited.” Harry’s face lights up.

“That’s great, Lou. So you guys are friends now?”

Nick shares a look with Louis.

“About that.” Louis grabs Nick’s hand. “We’re not just friends. We’re dating.”

Everyone falls silent, then Harry jumps out of her seat, pointing at them.

“I knew it.”

“What?” Louis says. “No you didn’t.” .

“Yes I did,” Harry argues, curls bouncing from how forcefully she’s nodding her head. “You didn’t really think I believed that story you guys told me. You’re both terrible liars.”

“What story?” Niall asks but is ignored.

“So you knew the whole time?” Nick asks baffled.

“Knew what the whole time?” Niall tries again but continues to be ignored.

“Wait, how could you know? I hadn’t even told you guys I was bisexual, at that point,” Louis asks, eyebrows scrunched up in puzzlement.

The girls all look at each other with matching expressions of guilt.

“About that,” Harry says sheepishly.

“Harry,” Zayn says in a long-suffering voice. “Louis, the thing is-. The thing is that the girls and I have suspected for awhile now. We were just waiting for you to tell us.”

“You knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You weren’t ready to tell us. We didn’t want to pressure you.” Louis looks gobsmacked, completely overwhelmed by this new knowledge.

“But that still doesn’t explain how Harry knew we were dating. We didn’t even know we were dating.” Nick says quizzically.

“Yeah, Harry, how did you figure it out?” asks Liam.

“And start from the beginning, Harry,” Niall puts in.

“It’s like this,” Harry says. “The Thursday before we played Wembley, I went over to Nick’s and found Louis’ shirt in the hamper.” Niall lets out a whistle. “Nick wouldn’t tell me anything without talking to Louis first, who told me this elaborate story about going out alone and getting smashed and how Nick found her and took her home and gave her a change of clothes to wear and how she had forgotten her shirt in the morning. Louis was too ashamed to tell me, blah, blah, blah, ”

“It was all a lie though because one, the club that Louis told me Nick found her at, Nick hates and two. Remember how I went into your room, Lou, to look for the sweater you had borrowed and I found Nick’s sock. I didn’t think anything of it, though, figuring it might have been your sisters that you nicked off of. I put two and two together when I found Louis’ shirt at Nick’s. And I realized Nick must have come up to Manchester to visit Louis. Then when you came out to us I knew for sure you guys had at least hooked up if not dating.”

“Omg, Louis! You and Nick have been dating all this time and you didn’t tell us,” says Liam indignantly.

Now it was Louis’ turn to look guilty.

“Not exactly. We only just decided to make it official,” Louis says huffily. “Besides you just finished saying you didn’t want to pressure me.”

Liam’s about to retort when Zayn puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Of course, we don’t. We’re glad you decided to tell us. Congrats to both of you,” Zayn says.

“Glad that’s sorted. Can we eat now?” Niall asks hopefully.

Nick stands up. “Oh, shit I forgot about the pie,” she says running into the kitchen.

Nick opens the oven door to see that the pie remains fortunately unburned and is ready to take out. Nick’s taking out plates and silverware when Harry comes into the room.

“Want some help,” asks Harry.

“Yeah, cheers. Can’t believe Louis has me baking for her. I must be a soft touch,” Nick says.

“I’m really happy for you guys. I always knew you’d get along if you tried.” Harry says warmly.

“I don’t know about ‘get along’,” Nick replies. “Last night we broke up for an hour, an hour, not joking. Over whose turn it was to turn off the lights. She’s a bloody handful, that one.” Harry looks as if this is the most romantic story she’s ever heard.

“That is the most romantic story I’ve ever heard,” Harry says.

“Sap.”

Louis comes into the kitchen yelling, “Honey, is dinner ready?”

“Enjoy it while it lasts, love. After today it’s takeaways only.”

“Babe, you say the sweetest things,” Louis says, attaching herself to Nick’s side like a leech, reaching out to nip a piece of pie. Nick swats her hand away, telling her ‘ _can’t you wait five minutes, jesus_ ’. Nick picks up the serving plate and looks up to see Harry watching them with misty eyes and with a watery smile.

“Right, time to eat. Harry will you grab the cups and plates? Louis can you take the wine? I’ve got the pie.”

Louis waits for Harry to leave the room before turning to Nick and saying, “That didn’t go to bad, did it?”

“Yeah, it went well I thought,” Nick assures her. “Good practice for when we tell my friends.”

“Right,” Louis says.

“It’s gonna be fine, love,” Nick says. “They’re all bark and no bite, you’ll see. They’re going to love you, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Louis snorts. “Of course they’ll love me. Why wouldn’t they love me.”

“Good. Hold onto that snarkiness. They can smell fear.”

“I have no idea what you’re so smug about. We’re visiting my mother this weekend,” Louis says. With a smirk and a raise of the eyebrow, she saunters out of the kitchen.

 _Damn_ , in all of the preparations for telling their friends, Nick forgot about meeting Louis’ mum. Now that Nick thinks about it though, Louis’ mum seems the type to have some embarrassing childhood photos of Louis stashed away in an old photo album somewhere. This weekend might not be so terrible after all.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr.](http://1dezpo.tumblr.com) Come say hi :)


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